Secrets Unknown
by RubyChan05
Summary: Odaiba gets a new transfer student! Ken is spending a term at their school...and he’s far from happy about it. As the genius tries to stay isolated, can Davis turn the Emperor from his dark path...even if he doesn't know exactly who Ken is?
1. Transfer Student

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

_**Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…**_

* * *

**Chapter One; Transfer Student**

TK yawned, leaning back in his chair as the teacher droned on. >_Still five more minutes until lunch…could this stupid class go any slower?> _He mentally groaned. Beside him, Kari giggled, poking him in the side as she recognized the look of complete boredom that was appearing on her best friend's face.

TK turned and glared at her. Kari just smiled, and mouthed something to him.

"_Did you know, you looked just like Davis then_?" Turning pale, TK twisted in his seat to look, and choked. Sure enough, Davis was sitting there with an identical look of boredom.

As TK began to panic, Kari covered the grin that was beginning to show on her face.

* * *

"So…have you guys heard the news?" Yolei asked, sitting down at the gang's lunch table. She sighed at TK, Kari, Davis and Cody's blank expressions, and began to dig into her ravioli. 

"Man, do you guys live under rocks or something? The whole school's been talking about it!"

"Talking about what?" Cody asked.

"The school's getting a new transfer student…he normally goes to the posh school in Tamachi, but someone decided it would be a good idea if he spent a term in a 'normal' school." Yolei explained.

"Wow…they're all really brainy there…he's going to run circles round us." Kari mused, playing with her own meal.

"Do you know what he's called, Yolei?" TK prompted. Shaking her head, Yolei sighed.

"No…nobody knows…"

"Alright! I've got it all planned out!" Davis suddenly yelled excitedly.

"Huh?"

"I'll show the new student that posh schools aren't everything! I'll impress him with my athletic abilities, my intelligence, my…"

"Modesty?" TK suggested, a small smile on his face.

"Yeah!" Davis shot the blonde the thumbs up sign, having obviously not realised that TK was being sarcastic.

"Slow down, Davis. Who said they'd be in your class? He could be in mine, or Cody's. We don't even know how old he is." Yolei pointed out. Davis visibly deflated.

"Guess you're right…even if he's my age, he could be put in the other side of the year. It's not fair!"

Rolling their eyes at Davis' childlike behaviour, the group ignored him, and went back to eating their food.

* * *

By the next day, Davis had decided that there was no way in hell that his class would be lucky enough to get the new student, but had realised that there wasn't much point moping about it. He even managed to put it out of his mind…until the teacher walked in. 

"Class, I've got some exciting news. Guess which class the new transfer student is in?" Mr. Yakamushi grinned. Davis sat up straight, his heart beginning to race. >_Could it be…?>_

"That's right! Ours!" Mr. Yakamushi beamed. The class erupted into cheers – with Davis being one of the loudest. Glancing over to where TK and Kari sat, he noticed to his slight annoyance that they were talking quietly. >_Typical. Even news like this can't break them out of their own little world.>_ He thought in disgust.

"Now, I'd like you to give a warm welcome to our new student…Ken Ichijoji!" The class stopped cheering, and began to murmur in disbelief. >_Oh come on! Like Ken would ever transfer here!>_ Davis sighed, wondering why Mr. Yakamushi was being so cruel.

"Come on in, Ken!" the teacher called.

As the door slid open, Davis watched as the newcomer entered. >_No way!> _Shoulder length blue-purple hair, violet eyes…it really _was_ him! Gulping, Davis continued to stare at his hero, his pulse beginning to pound in his ears.

"Greetings." Ken murmured softly, looking round at his new classmates.

"Right…you can sit next to Davis Motomiya, Ken. He's the one wearing goggles…" Mr. Yakamushi began, but Ken held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"It's quite alright, Mr. Yakamushi. I know who he is." Turning to face Davis, Ken smiled faintly.

"He's quite a player on the football pitch." Blushing at what Ken had said, Davis looked away. He remembered that match…he'd knocked Ken over and injured his leg…but instead of being mad at him, Ken had just called him a worthy adversary and shaken his hand.

"Oh, good. Then I guess I can count on Davis to show you around, right?" Mr. Yakamushi winked at Davis, laughing at the frantic way the teen was nodding his head.

Sitting down in the seat next to Davis', Ken bowed his head in greeting, and faced forward before Davis could say anything. Davis blinked at him for a moment, before starting to pay attention to the teacher. Maybe Ken would be more willing to talk after the lesson finished.

* * *

"So Ken, is there anywhere in particular you want to go?" Davis asked as he packed up his bag for break. Glancing up, Ken shook his head, hair swishing slightly as he moved. 

"It's fine, Davis. I can find my own way around."

Davis frowned slightly.

"No way, dude! I'm not letting you get lost here!" He argued. Ken raised an elegant eyebrow at the comment.

"In a small school like this? Trust me, the one in Tamachi is far bigger, and I was never lost there." He sighed. Davis scowled.

"Yeah, but you're new here…" He began.

"For god's sake, Davis! Aren't you listening? _I don't need a guide_!" Ken snapped suddenly. Davis stared at him, wondering why Ken was yelling at him – he only wanted to help.

"Ken…?" He whispered in bewilderment. The other boy closed his eyes, visibly getting himself under control again. When he looked back at Davis, all trace of anger had vanished.

"I'm sorry. I just don't want a guide, that's all."

Smiling broadly, Davis grabbed Ken's arm and began to pull him out of the class.

"Well that's just too bad, because you're not getting away from me that easily!" He laughed.

* * *

Looking at the clock, Davis groaned. Break had ended way too fast, and lunch seemed years away. Glancing to his left, he saw that Ken was looking straight at the teacher…but his eyes were glazed, as if he wasn't paying any attention. >_Poor Ken…he knows all this…he must be bored out of his skull. >_

Davis briefly wondered how Ken felt at being forced to enrol at a new school for a term. The genius certainly hadn't been especially friendly so far…in fact, at times he'd been down right rude. He'd spent the whole break trying to get away from Davis.

Jerked out of his thoughts by the bell, Davis turned to Ken with a grin – only to realise that the boy genius wasn't there. >_Oh man! He must have left as soon as we were dismissed!> _He mentally moaned.

* * *

"Uh, guys? You haven't by any chance seen Ken around have you?" Davis asked his friends worriedly. Yolei rolled her eyes good naturedly, taking a delicate sip of her drink.

"Don't tell me you've already lost him." She smirked.

"He gave me the slip!" Davis wailed miserably. Mouth twitching in a smile, Kari coughed slightly to get his attention.

"I think I saw him going round to the sports area." She said helpfully. Davis shot her a grateful look.

"Thanks, Kari. Better go find him, then." As he ran off, the others stared after him.

"Are any of you getting the impression that Ken really doesn't want to be here, especially with someone like Davis?" TK asked dryly.

"Yep. Pity that Davis can't see it, though." Cody sighed.

* * *

"Damn Davis and his friends. It's bad enough being here, without having to face those annoying brats every day!" Ken snarled, kicking the ball viciously into the goal. God, he hated this place. If he'd had his way, he'd never have come here. But his stupid parents had decided that it would do him good to be around 'normal' people for a change.

_>Depends how you define normal.>_ Ken smirked.

"Hey Ken!" At the sound of the enthusiastic shout behind him, Ken growled. Despite his best efforts, he still hadn't managed to evade the cinnamon haired boy.

"What do you want, Motomiya?" He challenged. Davis pulled up short, caught off guard by this aggressive greeting.

"I'm meant to be showing you around, aren't I?" He reminded Ken tentatively. Ken let out a short bark of laughter, and began to silently glare at Davis.

"I told you this morning. I don't want, or need, a guide. Now leave me alone."

"What's up with you? You weren't like this before…" Davis murmured. Ken stepped forward, his hands balled into fists.

"Yeah, well, I'm tired of acting like the precious idol you want me to be, so I've decided to drop the pretence. I don't like you Davis. I don't like you at all. I don't like this school, or the teachers…you're all just below me." Ken snapped. Davis reeled back as though he'd been slapped…which in a way, he had.

"You don't mean that…" He gasped. Ken's violet eyes flashed dangerously.

"Yes I do. Now get out of here, you insect!" Watching with satisfaction as Davis retreated, Ken moved back into the shadows, grinning nastily.

_>That's right, you Digidestined brat. Fear me…just like you should.>_

_

* * *

**Gah! What have I got now, four fics on the go? Ah well...this one happens to already be finished, so review, people! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll put up the next few chapters. Ok?**_


	2. Tutoring

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

_**Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…**_

* * *

**Chapter Two; Tutoring**

Shaking slightly, Davis sat down at the lunch table. His friends looked at him in concern, wondering what on earth was wrong with the normally loud leader.

"Davis?" Kari asked hesitantly. Davis started, then looked at her, eyes disbelieving.

"He said…he said he didn't like me. And that we were all beneath him…" Davis whispered, his voice trailing away. Immediately, everyone's eyes widened in disbelief, and they stared at him.

"He what!"

"Said he didn't like any of us, and that he thought we were all beneath him." Davis said dully. Exchanging looks with the others, Cody sighed.

"I wondered if that would be the case." He murmured softly. Davis stared at him.

"Huh?"

"Well think about it. He's always so nice whilst on camera, and doing interviews. Add to that his amazing intelligence, and you have a perfect person. Almost _too_ perfect. We should have guessed earlier." Cody continued.

"What the hell are you saying, Cody?" Davis exploded, unable to take these riddles anymore.

"Whoa, calm down!" TK gasped. Frowning, Davis did as he was told.

"I think I know what Cody means. Most geniuses end up extremely big headed and cold, due to the huge amount of media attention they get – Ken's no different. The nice person we see on television is just his camera face." Kari explained.

"Ohhh…" Davis looked down, obviously upset that his hero was such a fraud. Next to him, Yolei wasn't in much better shape.

"Why do I always fall for the horrible ones?" She wailed miserably. A sudden silence at the table caught her attention, and she looked up to see Ken walking past.

Noticing the way they were looking at him, Ken just smirked, striding by coldly without saying a word.

"What a horrible person…I'd have never guessed." TK grimaced, focusing on his food again. Beside him, Cody nodded silently.

"And to think you've got another term of that…_creep_ in your class." Sniffing slightly, Davis stayed quiet, his head still bowed. >_I've always wanted to be just like him…just like Ken. But now I realise…he's just a fake.>

* * *

_

"And once again, Ken tops the class with a perfect test score! Maybe next time someone will manage to share his triumph, hmm?" Mr Yakamushi smiled, handing out the graded test papers. Feeling a slight sense of foreboding, Davis glanced down at his own.

"Great…another F." He muttered, slumping. No matter how hard he studied, somehow he always managed to fail the exams. At this rate, he'd be stuck working in the fast food industry – like a burger shop, or a noodle cart. >_Noodle cart…that actually sounds quite cool_!> Davis mused.

Turning his head tentatively, Davis watched Ken as he looked at his test paper in utter boredom.

"It wasn't exactly much of a challenge…" The genius murmured under his breath. Noticing Davis looking at him, Ken instantly began to scowl, not stopping until the loud mouthed boy was facing the front again.

_>Pathetic insect…why won't he just ignore me like the rest of his little friends_?> Ken cursed under his breath. Starting as the bell rang, Ken placed his things in his bag and left, not sparing a glance for any of those Digidestined brats.

_>I wonder what they'd do if they knew I was their enemy? Would they do anything_?> Smirking, Ken strode through the hallways, glaring at anyone who got in his way. Although he'd hated being forced to come here, he had to admit that it was…refreshing…to let the mask slide.

In Tamachi, he had to hide the way he really thought about other people – you didn't act like you had an attitude problem in a posh school like that. But here…he was free to treat these fools like he wanted – after all, he'd be gone in a few months, so it wouldn't affect him.

_>Of course, I still act respectful towards the teachers. There are some lines you just don't cross.>_ Ken inclined his head to the Headmaster, and carried on towards his destination.

He'd found it on the first day – a perfect place to escape the screaming teenagers he shared his lessons with. Exploring the school, Ken had come upon a small flight of stairs that led up to the school roof. After realising that no one came up here, he'd started to come here every break and lunch, to be alone.

Delicately sitting down on the ledge, Ken gazed out over the playground and football field, watching the other kids play their games. Always in groups, never alone. >_I'm the only one who isolates himself. The others stay with their friends. Maybe I should try…>_

Startled by this sudden chain of thought, Ken shook his head violently, seeking to end these mad ideas before they even started. >_No! I don't need anyone else! I've always done just fine on my own! To need others is to be weak!> _Ken thought savagely.

Picking up a round pebble, Ken threw it as hard as he could to the floor, watching in satisfaction as it shattered. >_I'm not weak. I'm strong…>

* * *

_

"Davis? Ken? Could you come here a moment?" Mr. Yakamushi called, stopping the two boys in their tracks before they could leave for home.

"Sure, Mr. Yakamushi."

"Yes Sir." Stepping out of the rush for the door, the pair made their way to the teacher's desk, Ken making sure to stay as far away from Davis as possible.

"I've noticed that you're getting very poor grades in your tests, Davis." Mr. Yakamushi said seriously, steepling his hands in front of him. Davis blushed and looked away, trying to avoid the mocking look that he was sure that Ken was giving him.

"Yeah…but I _do_ try! I study so hard…but I still fail…" Davis muttered. Mr. Yakamushi's eyes softened, and he smiled sympathetically.

"Which is why I think that you need some help – a tutor." The teacher announced. Davis' ears perked up.

"Tutor?"

"Yes. If you don't mind, Ken, I'm volunteering you for the job." Mr. Yakamushi grinned. Davis froze, unable to believe it. >_Oh no…I don't think that I could stand so much time with Ken acting so cold…>_

Looking round, Davis saw to his slight amusement that Ken seemed to be in a similar state of shock.

"You want me to _what_!" He gasped. At Mr. Yakamushi's confused stare, Ken gathered himself, and nodded slowly.

"If that's what you want, Sir, then I'd be happy to tutor Davis." He murmured quietly.

"Good. Davis?"

"That…that will be good, Sir." Davis managed to choke out, inwardly screaming in misery.

"Wonderful. I'll leave you to arrange a weekly study date, then." Smiling at yet another 'success', Mr. Yakamushi strode out of the classroom, leaving the two boys staring at each other.

"How are Wednesdays for you?" Davis blinked at the question, and looked at Ken questioningly. The taller boy shrugged, eyes still cold.

"I never break my word – I promised to help you study, so I will. Is Wednesday a good time for you?"

"Not really…I've got football on Wednesdays. I can't do Thursday either, because I have an after school job." Davis answered. Ken's forehead creased into a slight frown.

"Well, I can't do Tuesdays because of chess club, or Fridays because of extra science…and the weekend wouldn't be appropriate as you wouldn't be able to concentrate. So that leaves Mondays. Alright with you?"

Davis slowly nodded, running through all possible activities in his head.

"Sure. Hang on, today's a Monday. Does that mean we have a session tonight?"

"Why not. I'll meet you at Odaiba Central Library, half seven." Ken's eyes narrowed, and he brushed past Davis, smirking.

"Just don't be late, goggle boy."

Leaving Davis spluttering in the classroom, Ken made for the exit, a slightly sour expression on his face.

_>Well that will put a dent in my time for conquering Digiworld. Ah well – give those annoying brats a chance to catch up_.>

* * *

"So…where do we start?" Davis flopped down on a chair, and stared around at the thousands of books, wondering what Ken had in mind. He tried not to notice the look of absolute hatred Ken was giving him – it was kind of spoiling his mood.

"Human biology." Ken said shortly, dumping a huge pile of textbooks on the desk. Davis looked at them in mild apprehension.

"You want me to read those, don't you?" He asked faintly. Ken's mouth twitched up in a humourless smile.

"Yes. Read as much as you can here, then read the rest for homework. I'll test you next session." Gulping, Davis picked up the first book, going cross-eyed at the complicated language inside.

"Umm…is this necessary?" He squeaked. Ken smirked.

"Oh don't worry, they're perfectly easy. A child could read them." He laughed quietly. Davis' heart sank.

"You mean a child like you, right?" He guessed. Ken's smile widened.

"Got it in one."

* * *

"He _what_!" Kari exploded. TK, who'd been sitting next to her, began to subtly edge away from her erupting fury. The others eyed her with mild concern for her blood pressure.

"He's my tutor now. I have to go to the library with him every Monday. And he made me read about twenty college-level textbooks this time." Davis replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kari frowned, gritting her teeth.

"He's playing with you, Davis! That lousy, horrible boy is toying with you!" She growled. Davis shrank back, unsure whether to be happy she was worried for him…or really, _really _scared.

"Talk to Mr. Yakamushi. Maybe he can arrange another tutor for you." Yolei suggested, taking a sip of her drink. Davis paused, before shaking his head.

"Nah. I want to try this out. Who knows? Maybe I'll be able to get Ken to open up a little bit." He decided. Silence fell over the table, and all the Digidestined stared at him.

"What? It _could_ happen." Davis said defensively. Raising an eyebrow, TK began to unwrap his chocolate bar.

"Sure, Davis. Whatever you say."

* * *

**_Well, end of chapter 2! That was a bit on the short side, wasn't it? Ooops. But anyway, same as last chapter. The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update, so keep them coming guys!_**


	3. Ties Of Loyalty

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Three; Ties Of Loyalty**

"So…how many did you manage to read?" Ken asked, sitting down opposite Davis. Monday had rolled around again quickly…and now he was waiting for the pathetic excuses Motomiya would come up with to explain why he didn't do the reading.

"All of them."

"_All_ of them!" Ken gasped. Davis nodded, blushing a bit.

"I didn't really understand the last one though – the one about the inner workings of the eye." He confessed. Ken stared at him, before allowing a tiny bit of admiration to filter through into his mind.

_>I have to say, I'm impressed. Perhaps these sessions won't be as painful as I thought they would be.>_ Ken thought.

"That's a good start, Motomiya. Tell me which bits you didn't understand, and I'll talk you through them. Then, I'll test you on the information." He said out loud.

Davis blinked, before smiling in relief. >_All right! He didn't say anything mean_!> He cheered mentally.

"Well, Motomiya? Are you going to just sit there!" Ken's voice harshly cut into his thoughts, and Davis chuckled to himself. >_Well, at least not at first_.>

* * *

"Hey! Ken!" Turning at the angry voice behind him, Ken glared at the Digidestined of…Hope, was it? No, that was the annoying blonde haired boy. She was the Digidestined of Light, that was it. Ken couldn't stop a smirk spreading across his face. _What a weak crest._

"What is it, Kamiya?" He snarled. In the background, he could see Davis and the others running after the girl, clearly trying to stop her before she did something rash. >_Too late…she crossed that line by stopping me_.>

"Just what gives you the right to make Davis read all those hard books! He's a human being, Ken! You can't just play with him!" Kari snapped. Ken sighed in exasperation.

"I'm his tutor. I'm meant to set him reading." Ken snorted, rolling his eyes. Kari scowled.

"Ones that he can understand!" She barked. Getting annoyed now, Ken grabbed her hand and removed it from where it was clutching his collar.

"He _can_ understand them, Kamiya. Or didn't you let him explain that before you came storming over here?" Caught off guard by the genius' words, Kari hesitated, before turning to Davis for confirmation. The cinnamon haired boy nodded.

"He's right, Kari. I never got a chance to tell you that I understood all of them except one – and he explained that one to me." Davis agreed. A little bit embarrassed now, Kari turned back to Ken, an apologetic look on her face.

"Not only can he understand them, he also went up two grades in the last science test. _Two_ _grades_, Kamiya. Do you know how good that is after only two sessions of studying? He could probably read even harder books – he just has to learn how to focus his mind correctly."

Eyes widening as he realised that he'd just revealed how much faith he had in the other boy, Ken stepped back and left quickly, almost running round the corner.

The moment he was gone, Davis scowled at Kari.

"I know you're part of the school's anti-bully squad, but that doesn't mean you have to fight my battles for me, Kari! I didn't even need to fight! And now he'll be in a foul mood with me next session!"

Flushing, Kari moved into the protective shelter of TK's arms, feeling ashamed and dirty – she'd just jumped to conclusions, and had made things worse because of it.

* * *

Swearing under his breath, Ken kicked a pebble off the roof, cursing that irritating girl. He wasn't sure why, but she'd actually managed to wind him up enough to admit why he'd set Davis such hard reading – because he believed the other boy was capable of understanding them.

Wait…kicked a pebble off the roof? Feeling slightly nervous, Ken looked over the edge of the roof, wondering if the small stone had hit anyone. Luckily, he could see that it had just landed harmlessly on the ground below. Not that he'd been worried, or anything. He just didn't want anyone to realise that someone came up to the roof every break – he didn't want his peaceful sanctuary disturbed.

Starting to get angry again, Ken had to stop himself from kicking another stone. >_Those damn brats…I can't get away from them! And now that Kamiya girl thinks that I actually respect Motomiya! Ugh!>_

Snarling under his breath, Ken checked his watch. Getting himself under control, he began to walk down the stairs, heading back to the lesson. >_After all, it wouldn't do to be late.>

* * *

_

"Motomiya, explain. _Right now_." Davis flushed as he stared up into the furious face of Ken Ichijoji, preparing himself to be ranted at. After Kari's little verbal attack on the genius, he was surprised that Ken had waited a whole two lessons to get back at him – but it looked like the wait was over.

"Look, Ken, I'm sorry about what Kari said before, I…" Davis began.

"I don't care about that! This isn't about your little friend's lack of discretion!" Ken snapped. Davis gaped at him. >_It's not_?>

"I just got your results in today's test from Mr. Yakamushi! You failed!" Ken barked, slamming his hands down on the desk. Davis wilted.

"I failed? Guess I wasn't as good at biology as I thought I was." He sighed. Ken's eye began visibly twitching, and he growled in the back of his throat.

"Is that all you've got to say for yourself!" He demanded fiercely. Davis swallowed hard, and looked the fuming boy in the eye.

"What do you want me to say? That I didn't revise? I did. That I didn't try? I did. I worked my butt off, and it just didn't happen for me!" He replied sharply.

Ken blinked at him, then shook his head slowly, seeming to calm down.

"I don't get you, Davis. You went up two grades on the paper before this – what happened?" Davis shrugged in reply.

"It's just me. I'm not cut out for success in school." He softly replied.

The next thing he knew, Ken had him trapped up against the desk, so that he had nowhere to escape to.

"Success doesn't come easily! It's not a thing that you're born with – you have to work every single step of the way, and not give up when you hit a problem! You have to make sacrifices, or you'll never be good enough!"

Getting a firm grasp on himself, Ken stepped back, allowing a slightly shaken Davis to move away from the desk.

"Like you, you mean." Davis murmured softly. Ken looked away, with the uncomfortable feeling of accidentally showing something that he'd meant to have kept hidden.

"Tonight. An extra study session to work out what went wrong."

"Huh?" Davis frowned, trying to remember something.

"What's the problem?" Ken sighed impatiently.

"Dude, you said that you had chess club on Tuesdays." Davis said. Ken stared at him blankly.

"Your point being?"

"You'll miss your club."

"Big deal. It's not like I don't win every game already. Besides, if you don't study more, how are you going to ace the makeup test I convinced Mr. Yakamushi to let you have?" Ken replied.

It took a moment for Ken's words to sink in.

"Huh? You got me another chance!" Davis exclaimed. Ken nodded, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't mess up this time. There is no way that I'm going to let the name 'Ken Ichijoji' become associated with _anything_ to do with failure. Understand?"

At Davis' silent nod, Ken picked up his bag and turned to go.

"Good. Now come on – we're wasting time." Davis stared after him for a moment, before smiling widely. >_Now why did I get the feeling that Ken threw those nasty comments in just to keep up his reputation as a sourpuss? >_

_

* * *

_

Ken resisted the strong urge to bang his head against the nearest wall, and watched as Davis read the book he'd been given. The other boy was mumbling slightly as he concentrated – yet another thing that was making Ken want to really _hurt_ him.

_>Why on earth am I doing this, anyway? It's not like I don't have anything better to do than tutor that Digidestined brat. Like chess club. Or conquering Digiworld_.> He thought in slight bewilderment.

"Hey Ken? What does this word mean?" Davis asked, looking up from the text. To his surprise, the genius was staring at him, but his eyes weren't quite focused, as though Ken wasn't really concentrating.

"Ken? You feeling ok? You don't have to help me, you know, if you don't want to."

Ken blinked, and refocused on Davis. >_Motomiya would rather fail then make me unhappy? What a weird child…> _

"I told you, I will not permit failure of any kind." He said out loud, trying hard to suppress the emotions that had suddenly begun to bubble up inside of him.

"Is that really it? You don't seem to mean the words when you say them. Come on, admit it. You like me." Davis grinned. Ken choked.

"No I don't!" Ken spat. Davis' grin grew wider.

"Just a little bit."

"No!"

"A tiny bit, then."

"For the last time, _no_! I don't know why I bothered – you're a hopeless cause. I could have gone to chess club after all!" Ken exploded, getting up. Gathering his books into his arms, he slung his bag onto his shoulder and left.

"Ken! Wait!" Davis called, scrambling to catch up. >_Man, I have such a big mouth! And a pair of feet just right for sticking in it!_ > He groaned mentally.

* * *

Ken strode quickly through the streets, fuming silently. >_Like him. Like him! What a stupid thing for him to think! > _Hearing footsteps behind him, Ken realised that Davis must have followed him, so he sped up, trying to lose his persistent pupil.

When that didn't work, Ken darted down a small path, heading for the river. Hopefully, Davis wouldn't have seen, and would carry on along the main road. If not…Ken was running out of ideas.

Ken slowed down slightly, listening hard. When all he heard was silence, he breathed a small sigh of relief. >_What am I doing? I've never needed to do this before – normally I just freeze them out until they give up!>_ But somehow, Ken knew that Davis would never give up on him. And that knowledge was tearing him apart.

_>Why won't he just leave me be? It was all so much more simple before he came…I don't understand…why do I care what he thinks anyway?>_ Balling his fists in denial, Ken hurried up, suddenly desperate for the relative safety of his room at home.

"Get off the path! This is our racing turf, kid!" A loud voice suddenly called. Ken's head jerked up, just in time to see two boys on bikes shoot by, glaring angrily at him.

One stuck out a hand, knocking him off the bank. As Ken fell with a startled gasp, the other boys laughed and cycled on, not caring whether the younger boy was alright.

Ken hit the water with a huge splash, completely unprepared. Eyes wide in panic, he struggled to get to the surface, gasping for breath as his head finally emerged into open air. Unable to stay afloat, Ken could only give a fearful cry before sinking back under, knowing that there was no one to help him.

* * *

Davis skidded to a stop, realising that Ken had somehow given him the slip. >_He wasn't that far ahead of me…>_ With a sudden flash of understanding, Davis wheeled round and began to run back the way he'd come, trying hard to make up for lost time.

_>He must have cut down to the river bank…why didn't I think of it before?>_ Running almost flat out now, Davis swerved down the path, urgently trying to catch up with Ken. In the distance, he heard someone shouting, then a huge splash as something fell into the river.

Jumping out the way as two boys sped by on bikes, Davis froze as he heard what they were saying.

"Stupid kid…it was so funny when we pushed him in, right?"

"Yeah. Did you see the way those purple eyes widened? Classic!"

_>They're talking about Ken! They pushed him in the river!>_ Davis found himself running even faster than he had been before, faster than he'd even thought he _could_ run.

At the sound of a splash, he slowed down, just in time to see Ken's head break the surface. To his surprise, Ken seemed to be struggling slightly. >_I'll just wait for him to calm down and swim out…>_ He thought. Then to his horror, Ken gave a small cry, sinking back under the surface.

He didn't come back up again.

"Ken!" Diving in, Davis swam deeper, eyes searching the murky depths for the boy genius. Spotting the sinking figure, he swam underneath and hooked his arms under Ken's, then began kicking for the surface.

With a huge gasp for air, he swam for the bank, pushing Ken onto it first before pulling himself up. Still panting for breath, he glanced at Ken, heart in mouth.

"Ken? Wake up, dude…" Davis reached over and gently shook Ken, praying that the other boy would wake up.

"Ken?" Dimly remembering something that he'd learnt in health class, Davis turned Ken onto his side so that he wouldn't choke if he threw up or something. Just then, Ken's eyes snapped open, and he began to cough hard, bringing up river water.

"Ken! You're ok!" Davis exclaimed happily. Vision still blurring slightly, Ken looked up at Davis, frowning as he tried to bring the face into focus.

"Davis…?" He murmured hoarsely. Smiling, Davis nodded.

"Yep. How are you feeling? I think you swallowed half the river!"

Ken slowly got up into a sitting position, still coughing.

"You...you saved me, didn't you?"

"Uh huh. Pretty mean of those guys to push you in, right?" Ken just stared at the brunette, unable to believe it.

"You saved me, after all the horrible things I've done and said to you?"

Davis blinked.

"Well, _duh_! Of course I saved you! And you haven't been _that_ nasty to me!" Ken was lost for words at Davis' reply. Davis had just dived in after him, with no thought for his own safety…

"Anyway, what happened? Did your foot get caught in a weed or something?" Davis asked. Ken flushed, and looked away in embarrassment.

"I can't swim."

"What?" Davis asked, not sure whether he'd heard right.

"I can't swim." Ken muttered. Davis tried not to stare, but found he couldn't stop himself.

"But you're a genius!"

"Yeah, I'm 'The Rocket' on the football field, the champion chess player, and Tamachi's highest test scorer…and I can't even swim." Ken laughed bitterly.

Sensing that Ken wasn't exactly feeling on top of the world right now, Davis got up and held out his hand to the other boy. After a bit of hesitation, Ken took it, allowing Davis to pull him to his feet.

"Where do you live?"

"Huh?"

"Where do you live? I'll take you home." Davis offered.

"I'm fine." Ken snapped. Unfortunately, his body chose that moment to give out on him.

"Fine, huh? Somehow, I don't think so." Davis smirked, grabbing Ken as he collapsed.

"Ok then, if you must. Take me home." Ken sighed, giving up. Davis beamed.

"That's better! Now come on!"

* * *

Davis glanced at Ken as they walked, noticing how the other boy was shivering. He was willing to bet that Ken would have a nasty chill if he didn't get out of those wet clothes soon.

"So Ken…I think we got off to a bad foot. Do you wanna start again?"

"What?" Ken asked, blinking in slight confusion. He had no clue what Davis was on about.

"Do you want to be friends?" Davis smiled at the other boy, waiting for a reply. Ken stared at him, his mouth dropping open. >_After all this trouble, he still wants to be friends? With me?>_

"I have no time for friends – they don't fit in with my busy schedule." He replied finally, getting a grip on himself.

"I see. So they're one of those sacrifices that you were talking about earlier." Davis said wisely, feeling pleased with himself for having an insight into Ken's mind at last.

"If you want to put it that way…yes."

"But friends are what make everything worthwhile! Life's a battle, Ken…and you shouldn't have to do it alone." Ken gazed at him uncertainly, before looking away.

"I wouldn't know how to be a friend." He murmured. Davis just laughed.

"Just do what you did with your other friends, dude!" He giggled. Then, he noticed the look on Ken's face.

"Man…you _haven't_ had any other friends, have you?" He realised. Ken shook his head.

"I don't have time for them now. And I never used to need any before, because Sam was always there…" Ken's voice trailed away, and Davis wondered what the matter was.

"Who's Sam?"

"My brother…he's dead now."

Ken's eyes widened at how much he'd let slip, and he sped up, beginning to leave Davis behind.

"Hey, wait up!" Davis called.

"That's my apartment block over there – I'll be fine, Davis, Thanks for walking me home and…saving me."

Davis shrugged.

"No big deal. But you haven't answered my question!" Ken would never know what it was, but something made him turn back around to face Davis, and give him a small smile.

"I'll think about it." And with that, he turned again and began walking towards his apartment, letting the darkness of the evening swallow him from sight.

Davis watched him go for a moment, silent. Then, with a loud whoop, he spun and began running for home.

"Alright! Progress! And all I had to do was save his life!"


	4. The Choice

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

_**Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…**_

* * *

**Chapter Four; The Choice**

The next day, Davis was still so happy that he was bouncing. The others noticed, but just exchanged knowing glances. They weren't even going to try and see what was so great – any insight into the mind of Davis often left craziness and general confusion in its wake.

"Davis, can you come down from Cloud Nine, or wherever you are, for a moment?" Yolei asked, tapping her foot impatiently. Davis blinked, and turned to look at her, a silly grin still on his face.

"Sure. What's up?"

Yolei rolled her eyes, but resisted hitting the annoyingly hyper teen.

"Izzy just e-mailed me. About Digiworld. And since you're leader of the Digidestined, I thought that you might want to participate in a serious conversation for once!"

Immediately, Davis sobered up.

"Right. What's the problem, then?" Momentarily taken aback by the quick change of mood, Yolei twisted so that she could face everyone when she spoke.

"Izzy says that the Digimon Emperor hasn't been seen in Digiworld for quite a few days now. He's never gone this long without building another spire – it's almost like he's holding back for some reason."

"Or he's not from Digiworld at all…" Kari whispered. The others turned to look at her in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Think about it – he's a human, so he obviously wasn't born in the Digiworld. We've been assuming that he lives there, but if he hasn't been around…"

"It means that he comes from the Real World, and he's keeping up two separate identities!" TK exclaimed, grasping what Kari was hinting at.

"It makes sense. And it could give us the advantage." Cody mused.

"Yeah! All we have to do is find out who he is, then confront him and see how strong he really is without all his controlled digimon!" Davis cheered.

"But how do we go about finding him? And exactly how would we fight him? He's human…we've only fought digimon before." Yolei pointed out. Davis's smile was instantly wiped away.

"Oh yeah…" Kari smiled at the look of disappointment he had on his face.

"Never mind, Davis. I'll see you in a minute, alright? TK and I have to attend a meeting about next week's basketball match."

Sighing, Davis nodded. It was times like these he wished that he was on the basketball team, not the football team – TK was, and he got to spend so much time with Kari…she was a cheerleader in the basketball games.

"Oh, we didn't think that we'd be leaving you on your own, Davis…" Cody gasped. Davis raised an eyebrow in reply.

"Huh?"

"Yolei and I volunteered to help out in the art classroom for a couple of minutes during lunch. We could cancel…" Cody offered.

Grinning, Davis shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'll go find some football game I can interrupt." He smiled. Looking uncertain, Cody and Yolei began to move away.

"If you're sure…"

"No sweat!"

Watching them go, Davis waited until they were out of earshot before sighing. Great – another lunch on his own. It wasn't that the others tried to exclude him…but their 'short' lunchtime activities tended to go on much longer than they'd thought they would.

"Hey, you're Davis, right?" Davis turned at the voice, to see a boy he didn't recognise.

"Yeah. Who are you?"

"I'm Charlie. I've been sent to bring you to Duncan." Davis blanched. Duncan was two years older than he was, and had a large group of cronies – he was the school's toughest bully.

"What does Duncan want with me?" He squeaked. >_Steady Davis, you're meant to be the Digidestined of Courage! >_

"I don't know…please come! He'll beat me up if you don't!" Charlie begged. Taking a deep breath, Davis nodded, allowing the other boy to lead him towards the back of the school.

He couldn't let Charlie get pummelled because of his own cowardice, after all.

* * *

"Good work, Charlie. You're off the hook." Duncan smirked as he saw that Davis. Nodding, Charlie ran off, eager to be away from the scary teens.

"So what do you want, Duncan?" Davis challenged. Duncan chuckled nastily, exchanging glances with his pals.

"Let me see, I was a bit bored, so I decided I wanted to do a bit of Davis baiting."

Davis' eyes widened, and he began to back away, before realising that he's been surrounded.

"I bet that you'll be no match for my boys…care to prove me wrong?" Duncan sniggered. At Davis' look of horror, he laughed, before clapping his hands.

"Alright, boys…show time!"

* * *

Ken sat in his usual place on the roof, trying to calm down the turbulent thoughts flying around in his mind. Davis had asked if he wanted to be friends…did he? >_It would be nice to have someone to talk to…no!>_

Shutting down the ideas before they'd even started to form, Ken leaned back against the wire fence, scowling at the sky. What was he thinking! He was the Digimon Emperor – and Davis was the leader of the Digidestined.

_>Not that I've been doing much to gain control of Digiworld lately…>_ He sighed mentally. He'd meant to conquer at least three sectors last night – instead, he had volunteered to give Davis an extra tutoring session.

Growling under his breath, Ken didn't hear the cries of pain that were floating up from the ground below until there was a particularly loud shout. Wondering what it was, Ken got up and moved to the other side of the roof – the bit that looked down on the yard behind the school.

_>Davis…>_ Ken watched as the other boy struggled against the group of bullies, valiantly trying to break free of their grasp. Unfortunately, the sheer number of attackers was wearing him down. Ken doubted whether it would be much longer before Davis became totally helpless down there.

Turning away, Ken headed back to the opposite side of the roof, blocking out the cries that were floating up. >_Not my problem…it's not like we're friends or anything…>_ Ken started, suddenly realising exactly what he'd thought.

_>Looks like I've made my choice.>

* * *

_

"Where is he? I don't see him anywhere!" Kari said, scanning the playground for Davis. The basketball meeting had been cancelled, and Yolei and Cody had finished helping the art teachers, so the group was together again.

Except for the fact that they couldn't find Davis.

"Um…are you friends with Davis Motomiya?" A small voice piped up. The group looked at the boy who was standing there, noticing how scared and ashamed he looked.

"Yeah. Do you know where he is?" TK asked. The boy nodded, fiddling with his hands.

"Duncan made me go and get him…he's behind the school…" Not saying any more, the kid ran off, leaving a very worried group of friends behind him.

"Oh no! He's got to be in serious trouble!" Cody exclaimed. The others nodded, and began running for the back of the school.

"Come on!"

* * *

Davis let out a grunt of pain as another fist slammed into his stomach, and he dropped to the floor as the strength left his legs. >_I can't take much more of this…there's too many of them…>_

"Had enough, Davis? Too bad, because I'm still bored!" Laughed Duncan. His cronies mimicked the laugh, until they sounded like a bunch of mindless hyenas.

"So, is this what you do when you're bored? Interesting." Everyone – both Davis and the bullies – looked up at the sound of the voice, to see a figure leaning against the wall, face hidden by shadow.

"What's it to you?" Duncan snarled. The figure shifted slightly, moving out into the light.

"Nothing. I just don't think 10 to 1 is very fair."

"You! What are _you _doing here, Ichijoji?" Duncan exclaimed. Ken shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"I was in the neighbourhood." Rapidly losing patience, Duncan jerked his head in Ken's direction, signalling for one of his pals to take action.

"Show him back to the playground, Greg." He ordered. Greg nodded, and went to grab Ken…before crying out in pain as Ken caught his wrist in an iron grip.

"I don't think so." Ken said, his voice still soft…and somehow all the more dangerous for it.

"What? You think you can take us on? A brainiac like you?" Duncan laughed. Ken shrugged again, a confident smirk hovering about his lips.

"Maybe."

"I thought you didn't think 10 to 1 was very fair." Duncan shot back.

"I don't…but I'm sure your boys will put up a very good fight all the same."

Duncan's mouth dropped open at Ken's insolent comment, and he growled in the back of his throat.

"That's it! Leave Motomiya alone, boys! Give Ichijoji a lesson in respect!"

"Ken…" Davis whispered, unable to do anything as the bullies left him alone, heading towards Ken instead. Unable to get his mouth to work properly, he mentally screamed for Ken to back off, to run…_anything_.

Instead, Ken just stood there, waiting for them. As the first lunged for him, he ducked, letting the older boy's fist collide painfully with the wall. Ignoring the resulting bellow of pain that sounded, he kicked out at his next attacker, easily knocking him back into another three.

Davis watched, eyes wide and shocked. Ken had already taken five of Duncan's cronies out of the game – and he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Come, now! I thought that you'd at least be a _bit_ of a challenge." Ken laughed, carelessly striking another bully to the floor.

"Why, you little…" Duncan growled as he watched Ken take care of another two. That left only two more cronies, and Duncan himself.

Correction, that only left Duncan. Ken had just allowed the two other attackers to leap for him…at which he'd ducked, letting them fly into each other.

"Stop right now, Ichijoji!" Duncan barked, bunching his meaty hands into fists. Ken simply sneered at him, slowly and deliberately making his way over to the gang's leader.

"Oh sorry, don't you like me beating up your little friends?" He asked, voice dripping with insincere tones. Gulping, Duncan tried to back up, but couldn't do anything as Ken's fist swung out to connect firmly with his face.

"Then you shouldn't have tried to beat up mine." Ken finished, gazing down at the unconscious form in satisfaction as he brushed his hands off. Davis blinked, and stared at the genius. Had he just heard what he thought he had?

"Ken…" Coughing slightly, Davis tried to push himself to his feet, only to fall back down to the floor again as his trembling legs gave out beneath him. Ken was instantly at his side.

"Don't try to move, ok Davis? They beat you up pretty bad." Ken murmured softly, placing a gentle restraining hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. Davis just gazed up at him, still thinking about what he'd heard Ken say earlier.

"Why did you help me?" He managed to ask. Ken moved back a bit and looked away, a bitter smile gracing his face.

"To be honest? I wasn't going to, at first. Then I remembered how you saved my life last night, and thought that this would be a good time to repay my debt."

Davis could almost feel his heart sinking. Was that all Ken had helped him for? To repay his debt?

"Besides…life's a battle, Davis. And you shouldn't have to do it alone." Ken's last words startled Davis, and he stared into Ken's violet eyes, wishing for the hundredth time that they showed more emotion – he had no clue what Ken meant by repeating last night's conversation.

"You mean…" He croaked. Ken nodded, looking Davis straight in the eye.

"Yes, Davis. I thought about it, and I've decided – I'll be your friend." At Ken's words, Davis let out a small cheer, smiling broadly.

"On one condition, though." Ken said, holding up a finger to silence. Davis.

"What's that?"

"Don't expect me to hang around with your little misfit friends. You may have somehow managed to pull me into your life, but I can only put up with one immature brat at a time."

Choosing to ignore the insult, Davis just beamed happily, ecstatic that Ken wanted to be his friend. In response, Ken allowed the corner of his mouth to curve upwards into a small, genuine smile – the first he'd given Davis in all the time they'd known each other.

"Davis!"

"Are you alright?"

"What…what _happened_ here?" Davis glanced up, to see the rest of the Digidestined standing there, gawking at the scene. Not that he could blame them – it wasn't every day you saw ten unconscious bully boys.

"I'll be seeing you Motom…_Davis_." The gang started as they realised that Ken was there, and watched silently as he left the yard, shooting them a cold look as he passed. Ignoring him, they rushed over to their injured friend.

"Davis? Are you alright? Charlie told us about taking you to Duncan, so we came as fast as we could…" Kari explained, carefully helping the brunette to his feet.

"Ken was part of Duncan's gang wasn't he? What'd he do, hold your arms behind your back as they punched you?" Cody seethed. To his surprise, Davis simply smiled and shook his head.

"Ken wasn't part of Duncan's gang, Cody. He _saved_ me from them."

"What?" Gasped Yolei incredulously. Davis shrugged, and gestured at the fallen forms around them.

"Who else do you think did this to them? It was amazing – he didn't even break a sweat."

As the others digested the news, TK glanced around once more.

"Pretty ruthless, if you ask me. Looks like he showed no mercy." Davis shrugged again.

"They weren't going to show _me_ any mercy. But do you know what the best bit was? When he told them that they shouldn't have tried to beat up one of his friends!" Davis laughed.

Everyone stared at him, shocked.

"_What_ did he say?" Yolei asked, unsure whether she'd heard right.

"He's finally agreed to be my friend!" Davis said, remarkably cheerful for someone who'd just been beaten up.

"My…so the cold-hearted computer really does have a soul." TK chuckled wryly, ignoring the heated glare that Davis sent his way as they helped Davis back to the playground.

"Shut up, TE! Don't you dare say anything like that about him!" Davis growled. Putting up his hands in defeat, TK walked on, leaving the other boy fuming behind him.


	5. Misunderstandings

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

_**Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…**_

* * *

**Chapter Five; Misunderstandings**

Ken stared at his reflection, wondering what on earth had made him act the way he had yesterday. He _never_ worried about someone else…let alone a Digidestined brat.

And yet, he'd _wanted_ to help Davis…to accept his offer of friendship. Sighing, Ken began to brush his hair, still thinking. >_Maybe it won't be that bad…at least I'll have someone to talk to_.> He decided.

But wait…what about Digiworld? He wasn't going to give up on his plans of conquest just because he was friends with one of its protectors! >_It won't change anything – it's two separate worlds! In one, the Digimon Emperor will continue to fight the leader of the Digidestined. But in the other…>_

Unaware that he was smiling softly to himself, Ken grabbed his schoolbag and left the house, ignoring his mother's goodbye. >_In the other, Ken Ichijoji will finally have something he's never been able to have – a friend. >

* * *

_

Davis watched as Ken entered the classroom, feeling slightly apprehensive. Part of him couldn't help wondering whether Ken had really meant what he'd said yesterday…or whether he'd just been playing with his mind.

Noticing that Davis was staring at him, Ken stopped, unsure how to react. Was this normal behaviour? Ken found himself wishing that he'd spent more time with other kids – he might have known what to do.

After taking a closer look, and seeing the uncertainty in those expressive brown eyes, Ken suddenly realised what was wrong. Taking a deep breath and cursing himself yet again for his lack of experience, Ken approached Davis, and murmured quietly;

"I meant what I said yesterday, you know."

Then he quickly moved to his own desk, almost as though he'd never said anything. Davis was extremely grateful, though. It was obvious that Ken still hadn't really adjusted to the idea of having a friend, so the fact that the genius had taken time to reassure Davis meant a lot.

* * *

"Hey, Ken? Do you want to eat lunch with us?" Ken looked up at Davis' earnest question, and slowly shook his head.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Davis. I've got my own place to eat. Besides, I don't think that your little friends like me very much." He replied.

"Well, if you stopped calling them my 'little' friends, they might like you more." Davis laughed. His eyes were concerned though.

"Yes, I dream of that moment every night." Ken said sarcastically. He instantly regretted it – the look on Davis' face was enough to melt any heart.

"Sorry, Davis. I just don't think it'll ever happen." He explained, making his way towards the door. Davis stared after him, a sad look on his face.

"But it _could_ happen Ken, if you let it." He whispered.

* * *

When Davis sat down with a face like a wet fish, the others instantly knew that something was up.

"Davis?" TK asked uncertainly. Davis just sighed loudly in response.

"I asked Ken to sit with us. And he refused. I thought we were friends now…"

"You know, Davis, I don't think that Ken is that comfortable with the idea of being close to someone. You're probably moving too fast." Kari said soothingly. Cody snorted.

"Yeah…or he's just the same old stuck up brat we thought he was when he first came here."

"Cody!"

"What?" The younger child asked defensively.

"You're not helping." Yolei hissed, indicating an even more depressed looking Davis.

"Go and find him, Davis."

"Huh?" The brunette looked up at Kari's soft voice, unsure what she'd meant.

"Find where it is that he hides, then eat lunch with him. You'll never be able to strengthen your friendship if the only time you talk is just before and after class." She explained.

"Yeah!" Taking the others aback with his sudden enthusiasm, Davis ran out of the cafeteria, ready to find Ken. Sweatdropping, Yolei muttered under her breath.

"I think Ken would be better off eating lunch alone…"

* * *

Ken leaned back against the roof's wire fencing, and closed his eyes. >_This 'being a friend' is harder than I thought. It seems that everything I do or say ends up hurting Davis.>_ He thought.

Sighing, Ken pushed all thoughts of Davis out of his head, and forced himself to relax. It wasn't hard – the sun was shining on him, making him feel warm and sleepy. >_So peaceful up here…so quiet…>_

"Hi Ken!" Ken jerked upright, eyes wide. Was it his imagination, or had he just heard someone call his name? Glancing over to the stairway, he saw a figure standing there, and mentally cursed. His secret sanctuary had been discovered.

"Dude, I hoped you'd be up here. I looked everywhere else, so if you hadn't been here, I don't know what I would have done!" >_Wait a moment…I know that voice…>_

"Davis?" He called uncertainly, squinting against the sun. The figure moved towards him, revealing that it was, indeed, Davis.

"Yup! Sorry about that, didn't think about the sun behind me." He apologised. Ken shrugged.

"Yet another thing that we'll have to work on in our next study session."

"Yeah…how come you're up here? By yourself?" Davis asked, plonking himself down next to the genius.

"I always come here at break and lunch. I can get away from everyone else…well, I _could_." Ken said, with a faint trace of sarcasm. Davis rubbed the back of his neck, frowning.

"You shouldn't isolate yourself, Ken. There are plenty of people who'd want to be your friend."

"Hmm…you mean there are lots of people who'd want to be friends with a _genius_." Davis blinked, not sure what to make of this last comment.

"Huh?"

"Face it, Davis. If I wasn't smart and famous, no one would even look at me – they'd just brush me off as the new kid. All they want is to be able to boast that they're friends with Ken Ichijoji."

Suddenly, Ken's purple eyes narrowed, and he turned to glare at Davis.

"That's probably all you want, too." He realised. Davis gaped in disbelief.

"That's not true! You know it isn't!" He gasped. Ken simply got up, and began walking towards the stairs, before turning back to face the shocked boy.

"Do I?" He asked softly. Davis knew that he had to say something, _anything_, now, or lose Ken's friendship already. But he had no idea what to say, and could only gaze silently at him.

"I thought so." Ken said shortly. Then he was gone, leaving Davis by himself.

* * *

"It didn't work." The group looked up at Davis' desolate tones, and stared as he slowly sunk into a seat.

"What do you mean, it didn't work?" Yolei asked, frowning.

"I asked why he always isolated himself. He replied that people didn't like _him_, just his famous brain. Then he somehow got the idea that _I_ was like that too." Davis groaned.

"Didn't you say anything to prove him wrong?" Kari queried.

"I didn't know _what_ to say. I just sat there staring. So he got up and left me!" Davis wailed miserably.

"Oh, Davis…" Kari murmured sympathetically. TK began to scowl. He could see how upset Davis was, and it made him mad that Ken could just make someone feel this way.

"That's it! I'm going to have a talk with that cold-hearted computer!" He growled, storming off to find the genius. Cody blinked, then turned back to face Davis. >_Well, he deserves it anyway, for treating Davis like he did.> _He decided.

* * *

Ken sat silently on one of the school benches, arms wrapped round himself. >_Why should I care whether he wants to be friends with me or not? >_

_>I don't care. I don't…>_ Ken told himself fiercely. He didn't understand what was happening to him. How had Davis managed to make him feel this way? In just a couple of weeks, the brunette had wormed his way into Ken's life, and turned the genius completely upside down.

_>Why am I feeling like this? I'm the Digimon Emperor, for God's sake!>_ But Ken knew that that wasn't quite true. He may be the Digimon Emperor in the Digital World…but he was still Ken Ichijoji in the Real World.

Bowing his head to his chest, Ken silently cursed Davis for making him feel so weak and helpless. He dreaded the bell ringing – he didn't want to have to go back to class…he wasn't quite ready to face Davis again.

* * *

TK stared at the strange sight before him. If someone had told him ten minutes ago that Ken could get upset about someone like Davis, he'd have laughed at them.

But now…he could see the almost invisible way that the genius' shoulders were hunched over, the way that he was holding himself tightly. Ken was miserable, that much was clear.

"Ken…?" He asked softly. Ken looked up, his eyes immediately freezing into hostile pools of ice at the sight of the blonde boy.

"What do you want?" He spat, getting up so that he could look the other boy in the eye.

TK blinked, slightly taken aback by the sudden change of mood. >_Why didn't we see it before? Ken uses anger as a shield, so that no one can see when he's hurting…>_ He realised.

"Do you know, Davis is nearly crying back there?" TK began. Ken's eyes widened for a second.

"He is?" He murmured.

"Yeah. He's really upset about losing your friendship, Ken."

"Losing…what friendship? He must have knocked his head somewhere." Pushing his emotions aside, Ken crossed his arms and glared at TK.

The next thing he knew, TK had tackled him to the floor, and had him pinned.

"Look, Ken! You may have had some bad experiences with people in the past, but Davis _is_ _not like that_! When he says he's your friend, he means it!"

Ken stared up at him, processing that information. >_Davis really wants to be my friend? He's not a fake?> _TK, sensing that Ken was listening now, got off him, allowing the genius to get up.

"Talk to him – you'll see." TK said quietly, before leaving.

* * *

Davis sat at his desk, feeling extremely low. >_Typical me…I managed to alienate Ken after less than a day.> _Letting out a small groan, Davis banged his head against the desk. After a short pause, he did it again.

"Stupid!"

_BANG!_

"Idiot!"

_BANG!_

"Klutz!"

_BANG!_

"Thankyou, Davis, but I'd prefer it if you didn't destroy the few amount of brain cells you have left." Mr. Yakamushi called out. Blushing, Davis nodded, looking at his work again.

He blinked. There was a small piece of paper on his worksheet, neatly folded to hide what was written on it. And he was sure it hadn't been there before he started banging his head against the desk.

Curious, Davis unfolded it, reading the tidy handwriting.

_Davis,_

_I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier. I'm used to people trying to use me, so I didn't believe that you really just wanted to be my friend. Forgive me?_

_Ken_

Feeling his eyes mist up, Davis looked to his left, where Ken was watching him nervously. Smiling at the other boy, Davis nodded, crumpling up the note with one hand, and mouthing;

"Always."

* * *

**_Ok, for certain reasons, I was unable to get onto a computer to update, even though I had loads of great reviews...so to make it up to everyone, I've put up 3 at once now. This won't happen again, so remember - the more reviews I get, the faster I update!_**

**_See you next time!_**


	6. Trouble At The Arcade

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Six; Trouble At The Arcade**

"Come on, Ken! It'll be fun!" Ken stared apprehensively at the building in front of him, not quite sure what Davis' definition of 'fun' was.

"Tell me again – why did I agree to come?" He sighed.

Davis grinned.

"Because I have puppy dog eyes, and I'm not afraid to use them!" He laughed, dragging Ken into the arcade.

"Anyway, I thought you liked playing video games!"

"I do…_strategy_ video games! Not these sad excuses!" Ken protested. Davis ignored him, pulling him over to a machine.

"Just try it! Please?" He pleaded. Grumbling, Ken nodded, secretly promising to make Davis suffer for this little outing next time they were in Digiworld.

"Just once, Davis."

"Yay!"

* * *

Two hours later, and the pair were still at the arcade. Ken had to admit that Davis had been right – it was kinda nice to play a game where you didn't have to be always thinking about your next move.

"Aw, man! No fair! You've beaten me at everything!" Davis complained, although his face told Ken that he didn't really mind at all.

"Then I guess I'm better than you."

"Hey!"

Ken couldn't help laughing at Davis' indignant expression. The other boy stared in astonishment, making Ken instinctively move back a few steps. >_What have I done now?>_ He wondered. Although he'd been friends with Davis for quite a while now, he still knew that there were a lot of things he needed to learn about being a friend.

"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you laugh. Like you meant it, I mean." Davis breathed. To his annoyance, Ken found himself blushing.

"Awww, you're cute when you blush!" Davis teased.

Growling in fake anger, Ken launched himself at Davis, knocking the smaller boy to the arcade floor.

"Say that again, Motomiya!" He challenged, beginning to tickle Davis.

"You…you're…ha ha ha…cute when you…oh ha h ha! Stop it, Ken! Ha ha…please!" Ken ignored the cries for mercy, and continued to mercilessly tickle his opponent.

"Are we interrupting anything?" At the familiar voice, Ken was off of Davis in no time, as if he'd never been tickling him in the first place.

"Cody?" Davis got to his feet, eyes widening as he saw that the whole gang was there.

"Guys, what are you doing here?"

"Well, considering how much time you spend with Ken, we thought it was high time that we got to spend time with him too." Yolei replied brightly. Looking past Davis, she tried to see how Ken had reacted to the idea.

To her surprise, Ken's expression was one of mingled distaste and…slight panic?

"Thanks for everything, Davis, but I had better be going now." Ken said in a soft voice, turning to go.

"Hang on, dude, I'll walk you to the train station." Davis offered, about to grab his jacket and follow.

"No, Davis. Stay and have fun." Ken murmured. He tried to brush past the group, but Kari caught hold of his wrist.

"Ken…you don't have to leave because we're here." She smiled. Ken just yanked his hand away from her as though he'd been burned.

"I know. Now excuse me, please!"

"I don't think you do know." She continued, grabbing him again to stop him leaving.

"Let me pass, Kamiya!" Ken snapped.

"Ken, just let us get to know you!" Kari persisted.

"Get the hell away from me, girl!" Ken yelled, shoving her off him.

"Kari!" TK rushed forward, catching the girl before she fell to the floor. The rest of the gang glared at Ken with hostile eyes…including Davis.

"Dude…why did you…?" He asked.

Ken flushed, and began to back away, cursing himself for his lack of control. He'd lost his temper, and allowed his Digimon Emperor side to come through.

"Just leave me alone…you too, Davis. I told you I didn't need friends!" Ken snapped, before hurrying out. Davis stared after him, unsure whether to go after him, or stay with Kari and the others. His question was answered when Cody ran after the genius.

Deciding to leave Ken up to Cody, Davis went to see if Kari was alright…although he still didn't know why Ken had reacted like that.

* * *

"Stop _right_ there, Ichijoji!" Ken tensed at Cody's voice, but carried on walking, choosing to ignore the smaller boy.

"I mean it!" Getting angry now, Cody darted in front of Ken, blocking his way.

"Hida, please get out of my way." Ken said serenely, his face devoid of expression.

"Or what? You'll push me like you did Kari?" Ken flinched at the reminder, and Cody blinked in sudden confusion.

"You didn't mean to do that, did you? You just lost your temper." He realised. Ken tried to move past him, but Cody sidestepped, not allowing him to leave.

"Why do you always do this, Ken? I've seen you do it before. You just can't accept that people want to be friends with you." Cody sighed. Ken shrugged, keeping his true feelings hidden.

Truthfully, he knew that Davis' little pals really did want to be friends with him. But he wasn't sure how to react – he had enough trouble with just having _one_ friend.

"What does it matter to you, Hida? I know for a fact that you hate my guts." Ken finally retaliated, glaring at the smaller boy.

"That's the point. If you actually let people get to know you, then they might like you." Cody replied neutrally.

Ken tried to glare at Cody again, but found to his annoyance that he couldn't quite manage it. Giving up, he sighed, before looking Cody in the eye.

"Did Kamiya get hurt?" He asked quietly. Cody shook his head, then took Ken's arm, beginning to lead him back to the arcade

"No. But I think you owe her an apology."

"I really messed things up, didn't I?" Ken mumbled.

Shaking his head, Cody just carried on pulling the genius along the pavement.

"That just makes you normal." Ken stared at Cody's words, then allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

_>Ken Ichijoji, normal? Then I guess anything's possible.>

* * *

_

Kari put a hand on Davis' shoulder, waiting until the other boy turned round to face her.

"I'm sorry I wrecked things between you and Ken. I guess I…"

"Shut up, Kamiya."

Surprised, everyone looked up at the familiar voice, and saw Ken being led towards them by Cody. But unlike before, it didn't look like Ken had meant what he said as an insult.

Stopping in front of Kari, Ken took a deep breath, then plunged straight in.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I was the one who lost his temper and stormed off. I'm sorry for shoving you."

Smiling, Kari held out her hand. After a few seconds hesitance, Ken took it, looking uncertainly at Kari.

"Apology accepted Ken. Do you want to play Whack-A-Mole with me?" She offered. A little taken aback by how willingly she'd forgiven him, Ken nodded, and picked up the rubber mallet.

It looked like he'd just made a new friend.

* * *

By the end of the week, Ken had become firm friends with the rest of the group, and had started sitting with them at lunch. This had earned the gang several jealous looks and nasty remarks from envious pupils.

These remarks had promptly stopped after Ken cornered one such 'fan' and told them in no uncertain terms that the next time they badmouthed Davis and the others would be their last. The threat spread like wildfire, and by the time next lunch rolled around, things were back to normal.

Cody hadn't been sure whether that was a very nice thing to do, but as Yolei had pointed out;

"Better a warning than Ken suddenly blowing his top one day."

The others had also noticed a subtle change in Ken. He no longer called them by their last names, unless he was joking around with them; he seemed a lot calmer; and he seemed to have stopped looking down on people less intelligent than himself.

This was proven when, during lunchtime, one girl tripped as she walked past their table. Instead of making a scathing comment as he once would have done, Ken merely bent down and helped her up, using a serviette to wipe the spilt sauce from her jumper.

The girl thanked him, then went back to the serving area, to ask for a new meal. After a while, it became clear that the dinner ladies weren't willing to give out meals for free, even if the customer had dropped the last one.

The group had been watching Ken's face during the exchange, noticing how annoyed he seemed to be getting that the dinner ladies were willing to let the girl go hungry.

Finally, he had got up, stormed over to the serving area, and slammed a five pound note down on the counter, demanding that they give her a new meal. At the sight of money, the dinner ladies had been more than happy to oblige, and had willingly served the girl.

The girl had smiled tentatively at Ken, before murmuring,

"Thankyou, Ken. You're a really kind person." As he heard the words, Ken felt a sudden rush of warmth in his chest, but ignored it, deciding that he must have something like heartburn.

No one knew, that back in the Ichijoji apartment, in Ken's bedroom, a long forgotten crest had begun to glow.

* * *

_**Hey guys! Thankyou so much for reviewing! I'm now going to upload all remianing chapters of this story except the last chapter and the epilogue...if you want those, you'll have to give me lots of nice reviews! (wink). **_

_**And by the way, in response to Frozen Lotus, I'm well aware that it's a bit rushed...I was just desperate to get to the ending whilst I was writing it, because I had all these ideas for those last few chapters...sorry! I hope it didn't ruin the fic too much!**_


	7. All The Hidden Pain

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Seven; All The Hidden Pain**

"Ken, honey? Are you sure you know what you're saying?" Mrs. Ichijoji asked quietly, staring at her son in disbelief. Sitting beside her, her husband seemed to be having a silent heart attack.

"Yes, mother. I know full well what this means." Ken replied, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. His parents looked at each other, communicating with their eyes in the way that parents do when they don't want their child to hear.

"But…it's an honour to go to Tamachi Grammar School. When we sent you to Odaiba Public for a term, we didn't see it being…permanent." Mrs. Ichijoji persisted. Ken shrugged, and looked away, avoiding eye contact with his parents.

"Then you shouldn't have sent me there at all. I _like_ it there, mother. I get treated just like a normal person, and…and I have _friends_! I can't leave them!" Ken said, in what he hoped was his best persuasive voice.

"They got along fine before you came, and they'll do fine after you leave." Mr. Ichijoji finally spoke up, deciding now was the time to put his foot down.

"That's not the point! _I_ don't want to leave them!" Ken persisted. His father's face darkened, and the older man stood up, glaring down at his son.

"You are not going to such a common school! Do you know how many jobs will be open to you after you leave Tamachi? You could do anything you wanted…doctor, scientist, politician…anything!"

"But who said I wanted to be any of those things? They were Sam's dreams, not mine!" Ken's eyes widened at what he'd said, and he clapped a hand over his mouth in horror. But it was too late – the damage was done.

Sam's future was never discussed in this household. It was taken for granted that Sam's future had become Ken's – that the younger Ichijoji would live out those dreams for his dead brother. It was never acknowledged that Ken might want to do something else…until now.

"Just what are your dreams, then?" Ken's father queried softly, in a dangerous tone. Ken swallowed hard, and glanced at his mother, who'd buried her head in her hands.

"I…I don't know…at the moment? To stay at Odaiba with Davis and Kari and the others. In the future? I guess…I guess…" Ken's voice trailed away, and his father grabbed his arm, tightening his hold until it was starting to hurt.

"You guess what?"

"In the future, I guess I'd like to be something like a…a detective." Ken admitted, forcing his words out before he lost courage. His mother gasped, and his father stiffened, every muscle in his body tensing.

"You're one of the most intelligent children in the country…in the _world_…and you want to go to a public school and be a _detective_!" He barked the last word as though it was some filthy thing, worthy of disgust. Ken flinched, and got up, meaning to seek sanctuary in his bedroom.

His father soon put a stop to that idea though, by grabbing his arm again.

"You're not going _anywhere_ young man…not until we talk some sense into you!" He growled. Ken glared back, beginning to let his anger surge through him.

"Get off me." He said icily. He could feel his Emperor persona rising up to engulf him, and he welcomed it, retreating into the calculated rage that he revelled in whilst in the Digiworld.

"Don't you talk that way to your father, Ken." Mrs. Ichijoji admonished. In reply, Ken simply turned his penetrating gaze on her, and she drew back at the angry emotion in his cold eyes.

"Get off me, father!" He demanded again, grabbing the older man's wrist. His father, however, refused to loosen his grip. Ken's eyes narrowed at the insolence, and he tightened his own hold on his father's wrist, squeezing his hand as hard as he could.

"Ahh! Ken…stop it!" Mr. Ichijoji gasped, letting go of his son's arm. Instantly, Ken was across the room, and heading for the front door.

"How _dare_ you tell me what to do! I'm not Sam; I can't live his life for you! You lost him long ago, why can't you accept it!"

_SMACK!_ Mrs. Ichijoji screamed as her husband struck her son across the face, sending him back into the wall. Dazed by the impact, Ken slowly slid to the floor, his fury evaporating away into nothing.

His father stood there with wide eyes, staring first at his son, then at his own hand.

"Oh God…I'm sorry, Ken…I just got so wound up when you started talking about Sam like that…" Mr. Ichijoji fell silent, trembling slightly. It was the first time he'd ever raised a hand to either of his sons, and it was something that he'd never meant to do.

Ken blinked slowly, gathering his senses. Leaning on the wall for support, he shakily got to his feet, before staring at his parents.

"I hate you." He whispered. His mother gave a loud sob at the words, and his father reeled back as though he'd been the one slapped.

"You…you don't mean that…Ken…Kenny…" Mrs. Ichijoji whispered, reaching out for her son. Ken backed away, moving further towards the door.

"I hate you." He repeated. All of a sudden, it was like a gate had been opened, and all his resentment towards his parents came pouring out like a flood, completely overwhelming him until that was all he could think about.

"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! _I hate you_!" He screamed, fumbling for the doorknob behind him. His mother was crying hard now, and his father had gone a deathly pale, all the colour draining away from his face.

Finally succeeding in pulling the door open, Ken turned and ran, not really caring where he was going, just wanting to get out. Ignoring his parents' pleas for him to come back, he stumbled down the apartment block stairs, away from the home he hated so much.

* * *

"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! _I hate you_!"

Hearing shouts, Davis frowned and looked around him, wondering what they were. They weren't something he'd expected to hear in this neighbourhood – after all, he'd been sure that Ken didn't live in a place like Davis and the rest of the gang.

He'd been bored, and had decided to take the train over to Tamachi, to see what Ken was up to. What he hadn't expected was for Ken to come tearing out of his apartment block, almost running straight by him.

"Ken!" Catching hold of the taller boy's wrist, Davis swung Ken to face him, and stared as he realised that Ken's amethyst eyes were full of tears.

"Davis?" Ken asked tremulously. The next thing Davis knew, Ken had collapsed into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder.

Unsure what to do, Davis wrapped his arms around the other boy, and looked up to see a worried looking man that he assumed was Ken's father watching them from a balcony. Hearing light footsteps behind him, he twisted to see a woman hurrying down the apartment stairs, her face white and concerned.

"Ken? Ken, honey, come back inside…you're not thinking clearly…" She murmured, reaching out to touch her son's shoulder lightly. Ken stiffened, and pulled himself both out of Davis' arms and away from her hand.

"Leave me alone."

"Ken…please…"

"I said _leave me alone_!" Ken yelled, taking off again. Davis gazed after him in shock – he'd never seen Ken act so out of control before. Turning back to Ken's mother, he took in her shattered expression, and came to the conclusion that something had gone very wrong at home.

Taking a deep breath, he extended his hand towards the older woman, and said as calmly as he could;

"Mrs. Ichijoji? My name is Davis Motomiya, and I have this idea…"

* * *

Ken sat on the park bench, inwardly screaming with misery. Outwardly, though, his control was perfect once more, as though he'd never run sobbing from his home.

Shivering slightly as a particularly strong gust of wind blew by him, Ken stared fixedly at the ground, showing no sign of being the slightest bit uncomfortable.

His cheek throbbed, and he guessed that there was already a lovely purple bruise beginning to come out. >_At least my face will match my hair…>_ He thought wryly.

He shivered again, and he dimly wondered whether it really was the cold wind, or whether he was going into a state of shock. But he somehow couldn't really get himself to care enough to find out. He just couldn't find the inner effort to remember what he'd learnt in health class.

Retreating into his thoughts again, Ken never noticed the figure standing in front of him until it called his name.

* * *

"Ken?" Davis winced as Ken looked up at him. Although it would seem to an outsider that nothing was wrong with Ken, Davis had got to know the purple haired genius. He'd got to know him very well indeed.

Well enough to know that the blank, slightly vacant look in Ken's eyes definitely didn't belong there – and neither did the bruise on the side of his face that was beginning to appear.

"Davis? What are you doing here?" Ken asked in bewilderment, not understanding. Davis sighed, and sat down next to him.

"Think back, dude. I was there when you ran out of your apartment, remember? You collapsed sobbing into my arms."

Ken blushed, suddenly remembering. He'd forgotten all about it in his distress. Noticing his discomfort, Davis put a supporting hand on Ken's shoulder, meaning to comfort him. Instead, Ken stiffened at the touch, and glared at Davis.

"I don't need your pity, Davis." He snapped. Davis sighed – they were back to the 'I can't acknowledge weakness' stage.

"Of course you don't, Ken. I was just wondering whether you'd like to sleep over at mine tonight."

Ken blinked, caught off guard by the offer.

"Sleep…at yours? He asked faintly. Davis smiled and nodded.

"Sure. I've already asked your mum, and it's fine with her. So it's up to you."

Ken thought furiously, trying to sort out his feelings. On the one hand, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to cope with so many hours of Davis-style conversation. But on the other hand, he wasn't exactly eager to go back home at the moment.

"Ok." Davis beamed as Ken accepted, and was instantly on his feet, pulling Ken up from the bench.

"Great! Come on, let's get your stuff!" He laughed, pulling the genius along behind him.

Dimly, Ken was wondering whether he'd made a mistake in accepting Davis' offer. But it only took one of his friend's smiles to make him sure that he was doing the right thing.

* * *

"So what do you want to do first? Playstation or movie?" Davis asked, dumping Ken's bag on the table. Ken eyed him warily, his Davis Sense tingling in warning.

"It depends…what game and what movie?" He said suspiciously. Davis beamed at him.

"They're great! We can either play Combat Man 1.9 on the console, or watch 'The Brain That Didn't Die'." Davis laughed.

Ken paled at the sound of the movie – it had to be one of the worst horror films that had ever been made…he'd seen the beginning, and that had been enough. He'd vowed never to watch the rest of the stupid thing.

"Playstation!" He exclaimed hurriedly, rushing towards the sofa and picking up a controller. Laughing, Davis went to put the game in. _>Guess Ken's not a fan of cheesy old horror films, then…>_

Two hours later, and Ken had soundly beaten Davis no less than 34 times. Davis made the excuse that as Ken was a guest, he was letting him win. Ken replied that he didn't believe that for one second. This argument carried on for quite some time, eventually ending in a small play fight.

To Davis' disgust, Ken won that too.

Now they were getting ready for bed, and Davis had already decided that this would be the best time to confront Ken about the argument with his parents – a sleepy Ken was a defenceless Ken, he figured.

"Hey, Ken?" He called softly, watching the futon beside him for any signs of movement. To his relief, Ken shifted so that he could face the other boy – Davis had been afraid that the genius had already gone to sleep.

"Yeah?"

"What were you arguing about with your parents earlier? You know, when you broke down crying?" Davis asked. Ken stiffened.

"It's none of your business." He snarled. Davis, however, wasn't about to give up just because Ken wanted him to.

"Damn it, Ken! I'm your _friend_! It _is_ my business!"

"Wrong, Davis. You're not my friend – you're just a pet monkey I like to keep around for entertainment." Ken said cruelly. That was it – Davis snapped.

Rolling out of bed to stand over the futon, the brunette glared down at the other boy.

"For God's sake, stop pulling away from people and treat them like they deserve to! Stop pretending to be such a cruel dumbass!" He bellowed.

In a flash, Ken was off the futon and pinning him to the floor, a dark and dangerous look in his eye.

"Maybe I'm not pretending…maybe I'm showing you who I really am." He hissed threateningly. Davis gulped, but continued to stare determinedly back.

"I don't believe that, Ken. I might have, a couple of months ago…but I've _seen_ how kind you can be now. I know that you only put on this front when you're feeling upset or vulnerable."

Growling, Ken pulled Davis up a bit, before slamming him back down onto the floor hard.

"Is that something a kind person would do?" He demanded. Davis winced, but still smiled up at Ken.

"You could have hurt me much more if you'd used your full strength. But you didn't. That makes you kind." He answered simply.

Ken froze, gazing down at him. He didn't understand this – how could Davis have such faith in him, even after he'd hurt him so much? Letting out a small whimper, Ken let go of Davis and pulled back, retreating to the other side of the room.

"Why can't you let me be, Davis? Why can't you just let me act like the emotionless person I want to be?" He whispered, drawing his knees up to his chest and letting his head drop onto them.

Davis felt a stab of pity for the boy who was meant to have it all. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it was clear that Ken had some major issues about people caring for him…and whatever had happened with his parents today must have dug them back up again.

Crawling over, Davis placed a comforting hand on the other boy's arm. Ken looked up, trying to hide the fact that his purple eyes were filling with tears.

"Why do you _want_ to be emotionless? Why do you try to stay cold and distant, Ken?" Davis asked. Ken bowed his head, searching for the right answer.

"Because it's the only way I can cope – without the mask, I start to break down inside." He answered softly.

"But you don't need a mask, Ken – you've got _us_ now. Me, Kari, TK…"

"Yeah, well, I won't have you in two months time, will I? Don't try and shatter the mask, Davis; I'll need it again soon."

Davis stared, suddenly getting what Ken was on about.

"That's right…you're leaving at the end of term, aren't you?" He whispered. Ken nodded miserably, still refusing to look Davis in the eye.

"Maybe…maybe you won't need your mask at Tamachi anymore…" Davis offered. Ken let out a small snort of derision.

"Yeah, right. Let down your shield there, and you get torn to bits. Elitist, pompous gits! I hate them!" He snarled.

"Then stay at Odaiba with us." Davis pleaded. To his horror, Ken began to sob hard at his suggestion.

"You think I haven't tried to do that? Damn, Davis, are you always this stupid?"

Davis flushed, beginning to get a good idea about what exactly Ken had been arguing with his parents about.

"Your parents won't let you stay, will they?" He whispered. Ken shook his head, letting out another stifled sob.

"Of course not…why would they want their _genius_ son to go to some lowly public school? Why would they care whether he actually wanted to live out Sam's dreams?" Ken laughed bitterly, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he'd just mentioned his brother.

"Sam? That's your brother, right? The one who's dead?" Davis could have kicked himself – could he have _been_ any more insensitive? But instead of getting angry or more upset, Ken just nodded.

"Yeah. He was always the smart one in the family…I was the dumb, insignificant brother who got pushed to the side, constantly living in Sam's shadow."

"You, dumb? I find that hard to believe, Ken." Davis laughed. Ken simply smiled – a harsh, twisted one, full of pain.

"Believe it. I started wishing he'd just go away…disappear. Then guess what happened less than a couple of weeks later? A car hit him! A car hit him, and I watched him fly across the road and crash to the floor. Guess I got my wish, right?"

Davis gulped. Ken had watched his brother die? No wonder the genius had some issues – he'd actually wished for his brother to disappear, then watched as Sam died.

"Ken? You do know that Sam's death wasn't your fault, right?" He began hesitantly.

"You should have seen my parents' faces! It was like their whole world had just ended." Ken continued. Davis wondered whether the genius had actually heard what he'd said.

"They wanted Sam…so I gave them Sam. I turned into the little genius they always wanted. How many years ago was that? Let's see…about four years ago! Bit late to be reconsidering, right?"

"It's never too late, Ken never!" Davis said heatedly, wanting so badly to make the other boy feel better. Ken just let out a tired sounding chuckle.

"You don't understand, Davis….it _is_ too late for me to stop. I can't remember how to be _Ken_."

As Ken slumped in defeat, Davis caught him, wrapping his arms around his exhausted friend. Wiping away the tears that had begun to flow, Davis lifted Ken onto the futon.

_>I'm so sorry, Ken. I'm so sorry for the pain that you have to live with every day_.>

* * *

**_Ha ha! Remember my plea! Read and review if you want to read the last chapter and epilogue!_**


	8. Empty Promises

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Eight; Empty Promises**

"Hey, Ken? About last night…" Davis' voice trailed away at the hard glare Ken was shooting at him.

"What about last night? I don't recall anything out of the ordinary happening. Except your exceedingly loud snoring."

Davis opened his mouth to make a comeback, already preparing a speech about not treating your friends like you don't care, when he stopped, remembering something Ken had said last night.

"_Don't try and shatter the mask, Davis; I'll need it again soon_."

Davis bit his lip. Ken was right – he would need that mask of indifference when he returned to Tamachi. If Davis broke it down completely, Ken would have a hard time making it strong enough to hide him away again.

"I don't snore." Was what he said instead. Ken smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Really? Then I guess there was an elephant in your room last night."

"You…!" Davis exclaimed, launching himself at Ken.

Unfortunately for him, Ken wasn't called 'The Rocket' for nothing.

"Owww!" Davis rubbed his head, glaring at the wardrobe he'd crashed into. Ken was at his side in an instant.

"Are you okay? Let me see…" Davis relaxed, letting Ken's knowledgeable hands inspect the damage.

"You're going to have a nasty bump there." Ken murmured, brushing his fingers against the lump that was already forming.

"Ow! Watch it, will you?" Davis yelped. Ken shrugged.

"Well, if you will go flying into wardrobes…" He sniggered. Davis' eyes narrowed.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Maybe I can get a bruise and match your face." He growled sarcastically. For a moment, Ken tensed up, and Davis began cursing himself for his lack of sensitivity. To his relief, Ken relaxed, shooting Davis an evil stare.

"I'll be happy to give you one, Davis." He said sweetly. Davis laughed, grabbing a Playstation controller and chucking it at his friend.

"Try giving my fighter one instead."

* * *

"What on earth happened to you two!" TK exclaimed as the two zombies – namely Ken and Davis – trudged into the classroom and collapsed into their seats.

"Ken. Sleepover. Weekend. Last night played Playstation. Until three in morning." Davis managed to grunt out. Kari let out a giggle, and hid a smile behind her hand. Davis and Ken were cute when they were sleep deprived.

"Even though you're exhausted, you still look good to me, Ken." Yolei laughed, wrapping her hands around the boy genius' neck. In response, Ken simply crashed forward onto his desk. He'd gone to sleep.

Glancing at Davis, Yolei saw that he'd succumbed as well. Shrugging, she waved to TK and Kari and left to go to her own classroom, leaving the other two to face their biggest challenge yet.

Waking up Ken and Davis before Mr. Yakamushi came in.

* * *

The remaining two months soon passed by, until it was the day that Ken and the Digidestined had been dreading.

Ken's last day at Tamachi.

As the clock showed five minutes until the end of the day, Mr. Yakamushi told the class to pack up early. When they were silent once more, he went to stand behind Ken, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"As most of you are aware, this is Ken's last day with us – his term here is over. So give a farewell applause to your classmate, Ken!" A storm of clapping broke out, accompanied by several wolf whistles. Despite his cold start, Ken had been liked by nearly everyone, barring the ones who were jealous of him.

"We'll miss you, Ken, and we hope that you'll take away fond memories of us." Mr. Yakamushi smiled. Ken bowed his head, hoping that his hair would hide how close he was to tears.

"I will, Mr. Yakamushi. I will."

* * *

"So I guess this is it."

"Yeah." Silence fell over the small group as they stood alone in the playground. The rest of the school had already left, but there were a few goodbyes left unsaid.

"We'll miss you, Ken." Kari murmured, offering a small smile.

"Yeah, you were part of the gang." TK agreed. Ken looked down at the floor.

"Even if you were a brat at the beginning, you turned out alright." Cody said solemnly, offering his hand for Ken to shake.

Smiling softly at the younger boy's grave expression, Ken took the hand and shook. Almost as soon as he'd let go, Yolei pounced on him.

"Waaaa! Don't go, Ken! We were just getting to know each other!" She wailed. Ken gently removed her from around his shoulders. Then, noticing her crestfallen expression, he turned and pulled her into a brief embrace.

When he pulled away, Yolei had stars in her eyes, and had nearly fainted. Swallowing hard, Ken twisted to face the person he was dreading saying goodbye to the most.

Davis.

"Don't forget us, will you Ken." Davis whispered, tears flowing down his cheeks. Ken shook his head hard, tears beginning to stream down his own face.

"I won't. Especially you." Davis sniffed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What's so special about me?" He asked miserably.

"You were my first real friend, and the one that I felt closest to. To me, Davis, you were my _best_ friend." That did it for Davis. Bawling like a baby, he leapt at Ken, grabbing the other boy in a tight hug.

"And you were mine. Let's stay in touch, Ken. We can still see each other over the weekends, and we can phone each other every night…"

"Stop it, Davis." Pulling away from Davis' arms, Ken picked up his schoolbag for the last time.

"Don't go making empty promises. You know as well as I do that we'll drift apart – it's hard to stay close to someone who not only lives on the other side of the city, but goes to school there too."

Davis didn't want to believe that what Ken said was true, but he knew that it probably would end up that way. The distance would simply be too much – not to mention the fact that as soon as Ken went back to Tamachi, he'd be stuck with loads of extracurricular activities.

"Just promise me this – you won't let your schoolwork slide just because I'm not tutoring you anymore." Ken joked, his amethyst eyes still bright with tears.

"I promise. And I promise to watch you whenever you play football, or do interviews." Davis vowed.

Smiling sadly, Ken turned and began to walk away. Halfway across the playground, he stopped suddenly, and craned his head round to take one last look at his friends…his _enemies_…

"Trust me, Davis. The next time we meet, you won't even recognise me." And with those words he was gone, leaving five very confused and miserable Digidestined behind him.

* * *

"Hi, honey! Good day at school?" Mrs. Ichijoji asked chirpily, smiling at her son. In reply, Ken gave her the coldest, darkest glare he could muster.

"I have just said goodbye to the only real friends I've ever had. How do _you_ think my day went?"

"Oh, Ken…"

"Don't even try to say it'll all be better in the morning!" Ken snapped. Not waiting for his mother to answer, he stomped into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

His mother winced at the loud bang, bowing her head in a fashion similar to her son's. She knew Ken was hurting right now, and it was killing her. >_But we're doing the right thing for him…aren't we?>

* * *

_

Ken threw his schoolbag to the floor, watching as its contents spilled everywhere over the normally neat bedroom. Slamming his fist down onto his computer desk in rage, Ken yanked open the drawer, before grabbing his black D-3.

""Digiport open!" He snarled, welcoming the blast of white light that appeared to sweep him away.

He was in the mood for destruction.

* * *

Davis became aware of his D-Terminal beeping at him, and flipped it open to see who had mailed him.

_Davis,_

_The Emperor has gone into overdrive – he's just conquered seven areas in the last two hours. Meet us at the school._

_Yolei_

Davis gaped at the tiny screen. >_Seven areas in two hours! What the hell's gone wrong with his day?> _Grabbing a coat, he swung the front door open, only pausing to retrieve his blue digimon from the fridge.

"Come on, Demiveemon! It's show time!"

* * *

**_Ha ha! Read and review for the last chapter and epilogue!_**


	9. Defeated

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Nine; Defeated**

"Flamedramon!" Davis yelled, watching in horror as his digimon was knocked to the floor.

"Get up, buddy!" He pleaded. Flamedramon tried to get up for another attack, but couldn't quite make it – instead, he collapsed back down, De-Digivolving back into Veemon.

"No!" Davis ran to his partner's side, praying that his digimon was alright. To his relief, crimson eyes fluttered open to look up at him.

"I'm sorry, Davis. Axemon was too strong for me." The digimon whispered. Davis shook his head.

"Don't be sorry! You did your best – the others can take care of it."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Davis!" TK cried, shielding Kari as an attack narrowly missed them.

"Pegasusmon and Nefertimon are in serious trouble!"

"Scratch that, TK! They're out of the battle!" Kari shouted. Sure enough, the two flying digimon were blasted out of the sky by the trio of Snimon. Running forward, TK and Kari caught their De-Digivolved digimon, cradling them protectively in their arms.

"Halsemon!"

"Digmon!" The sound of Yolei and Cody's voices rose over the noise of battle as they screamed their digimon's names. A group of Ken's Tyrannamon had just attacked them all at once – overwhelmed, the two brave digimon had been beaten, De-Digivolving from sheer exhaustion.

Silence fell over the valley, and Davis glared up at the Digimon Emperor. Just as he'd known there would be, there was a small, satisfied smirk on the other's face.

"Well, Digidestined. It looks like I've finally crushed you like the insects you truly are." He laughed.

"Please, Master…don't take your bad mood out on them…ah!" Wormmon received a sharp kick in the side, and the Emperor curled his lip in distaste.

"Don't try to tell me what to do, Wormmon!"

Straightening up, he surveyed the damage caused by his controlled minions, and chuckled.

"So what should I do with you now? I don't think that my Dark Rings work on humans, and I know that if I put them on your digimon, it'll be more trouble than they're worth." He pondered.

"You lowlife!" Cody called out, holding onto Armadillomon tightly.

"Why, thankyou. Now, what to do, what to do, what to do…" The Digimon Emperor raked his gaze over the defeated Digidestined, trying to come up with the easiest way to dispose of them and get them out of his hair forever.

"What to do…" The Emperor froze as he suddenly realised why he couldn't come up with a method suitable for his taste.

He didn't want to dispose of them.

Unbidden, thousands of memories came bouncing into his head, whispering to him with their recognisable voices.

Sam.

"_One day, Kenny Boy, you'll meet people your own age, who like you just as much as you like them. And you'll be friends."_

Cody

"_Even if you were a brat at the beginning, you turned out alright."_

Yolei

"_Even though you're exhausted, you still look good to me, Ken."_

Kari

"_We'll miss you, Ken."_

TK

"_Yeah, you were part of the gang."_

And Davis.

"_Ken? You feeling ok?"_

"_Do you want to be friends?"_

"_You shouldn't isolate yourself, Ken. There are plenty of people who'd want to be your friend."_

"_I was just wondering whether you'd like to sleep over at mine tonight."_

"_Damn it, Ken! I'm your friend! It is my business!"_

"_But you don't need a mask, Ken – you've got us now. Me, Kari, TK…"_

"_Don't forget us, will you Ken."_

"_Let's stay in touch, Ken. We can still see each other over the weekends, and we can phone each other every night…" _

"Hey, Your Royal Lunaticness! Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to make up your mind?" Davis' voice suddenly cut into Ken's thoughts, and the young emperor stared at the Digidestined of Courage.

Smiling bitterly, Ken slipped his whip back into his cloak, never taking his eyes off the fallen Digidestined.

"Yet again, Digidestined, you've managed to come out on top." The others exchanged confused glances. What was going on here? Hadn't the Emperor just soundly beaten them?

"You win. I concede defeat…permanently." Pulling out a device from his cloak, Ken pressed a button. The Digidestined watched in disbelief as one by one the Dark Rings on the controlled digimon shattered into nothing.

"All over Digiworld, Rings are breaking up. Unfortunately for you, the Control Spires will still be standing, so you'll have a huge cleanup job ahead of you. Farewell, Digidestined. The battle is over."

With that, he took off running, heading blindly for the nearest Digiport. He could hear shouts from behind him, but the Digimon Emperor ignored them, just wanting to be out of this world.

Suddenly, he heard running footsteps coming up behind him. The next thing he knew, someone leapt and landed on his back, causing him to crash heavily to the ground. Kicking his assailant off him, Ken backed away, looking up as Davis got to his feet. The rest of the Digidestined were running up to them.

"If you think you can just get away with everything you've done, then you're wrong, Emperor." Davis said coldly, brushing his hands off on his trousers.

"Even though you've released the digimon." Kari added. Yolei stepped forward, arms crossed defiantly over her chest.

"And if you think I'm going to let you go without finding out exactly who's been causing us so much trouble, then you've got another thing coming." She announced. Ken paled.

"Stay away!" He gasped, getting to his feet and starting to retreat. To his horror, the others simply advanced, matching him step for step. With a small cry of triumph, Yolei leapt for him, trying to rip the mask off.

"Get off me!"

"Not until I know who you are!" Yolei grunted determinedly.

"Please! Do what you want with me, but let me keep my true identity hidden!" Ken pleaded, trying in vain to hold Yolei off. A few moments ago, he would have just knocked her aside. But now he was seeing her as an old friend instead of a Digidestined, he couldn't find it in himself to hurt her.

"Uh uh! No way!" Yolei reached forward again, hooking her fingers round the purple lenses. With a harsh cry of panic, Ken pushed her away from him, hollering out;

"Get _off_ me, Yolei!"

Everyone froze.

"How…how did you know my name?" Yolei asked uncertainly. Ken just continued to back away, silently shaking his head.

"Let me go…please let me go. I won't bother you again." He begged. Bumping into a tree, he made to move round it, when Davis suddenly raised a trembling hand, pulling the visor away.

"Ken…" The Digidestined stared in disbelief at the unmasked Emperor, unable to understand it. In response to his name, Ken flinched away, before looking back, his purple eyes filled with tears.

"I told you, Davis. I told you that the next time we met, you wouldn't recognise me." He whispered. Taking advantage of their shocked state he slipped away, quickly lost to the shadows of the Digital Forest.

"It was him all along…does that mean he was faking friendship the whole time?" Kari murmured. TK shrugged, blue eyes full of pain.

"I don't know. Maybe. I…"

"No!" The others turned, startled by Davis' sudden shout of defiance.

"Davis?"

"No! He wouldn't do that! Ken wouldn't fake friendship like that! He _was_ friends with us…he let us go, remember? Even though he'd beaten us."

"But think of all the cruel things he's done, Davis. It would be second nature to lie to us – it's just who he is." Yolei sobbed.

"He had no reason to do these things…why should he need a reason to deceive us as well?" Cody pointed out.

"You have no idea what he's been through! If you'd lived his life, then you'd have become the Digimon Emperor too!" Davis growled, surprising the rest of them.

"Davis? You're…_defending_ him?"

"I'm his friend. And friends forgive each other, no matter what they've done. I don't care what Ken did in the past – the only thing that's important is that he stopped on his own."

"But Davis…"

"I know him, alright! He's my best friend – I know him…" Sinking slowly to the floor as shock finally caught up to him, Davis felt tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.

Why did he have the feeling that he'd just lost Ken again? Forever?

* * *

**_Read and review for the last chapter and epilogue!_**


	10. Won't Be Seeing Me

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Ten; Won't Be Seeing Me**

Most people noticed how the Digidestined were extremely subdued at school the next day. How Cody was even less talkative. How Yolei seemed constantly close to tears. How TK and Kari were solemn instead of grinning.

How Davis didn't seem to be there at all.

The day passed in a grey blur, and soon it was time to go home. However, before Davis could leave, Mr. Yakamushi called him over. The others hovered by the door, waiting for him.

"Ah, Davis. A package arrived for you a little while ago." Mr. Yakamushi smiled, handing Davis a small brown box. Davis took it, looking questioningly up at his teacher.

"It's from Ken."

* * *

Davis slowly walked to the door, cradling the package in his arms. The group remained silent until they were out in the playground, then formed a ring around Davis as he opened the box. Putting his hand in, he pulled out three things. The first was an ordinary letter. But the other two were much more special.

"His D-3…" Cody breathed, looking at the black device in Davis' hand.

"I guess he really was serious about giving up." Ignoring Yolei, Davis examined the third item. It seemed to be a small pink square with something like a flower engraved on it. It made him think for some reason that it should have gone inside of something…a locket or something.

"TK! It's a crest, just like we used to have!" Kari gasped. Davis looked up.

"You know what it is?" He questioned.

"Yeah…us older Digidestined didn't have Digieggs back then. We wore our crests in small tags around our necks, and the power to Digivolve came from that." TK explained.

"But that would mean…" Yolei's voice trailed away as she stared at the delicate item.

"That Ken was a Digidestined." Cody finished, looking slightly sick. Davis wordlessly opened up the letter, and began to read it, blocking out the sound of his friends' conversation.

_Davis, _

_Or is it Motomiya? I'm not sure if I have the right to call you by your first name anymore. If I ever had it at all. You defeated me well and truly, Davis. And yet you also saved me._

_I'm not talking about the river, although I'm exceedingly grateful for your help that night. What I mean is this – without you, I would never have remembered my human side. I would have stayed cold and emotionless forever._

_Please understand – I never meant to betray you, or deceive you. I honestly thought that I could keep up my double life. Fighting the Digidestined in the Digital World…and friends with you in the Real World. In the end I realised that I couldn't keep the two lives separate. You were my friends, and I couldn't hurt you._

_I'm so sorry for all the pain that I've caused to both you and the digimon. I give you my D-3, so that I can never go back to Digiworld again – I will never allow myself to become the Emperor again._

_I have also given you my old crest. I have reason to believe that Kari and TK will probably know what it is. After all, we were all Digidestined at the same time. Yes, that's right. I betrayed everything that I fought for when I was younger, and turned against the very digimon I swore to protect._

_I no longer deserve the title of Digidestined – I have become all that I once hated, because I couldn't stand my life as Ken Ichijoji anymore. If you understood anything I told you that night, Davis, then you'll realise what I mean._

_I'm not trying to shift the blame from myself – I deserve your hatred. I just want you to understand. Understand how I became a black sheep, and turned into the opposite trait of my crest. Would you believe that it's Kindness? What a joke. I have spent the last year or so torturing innocent digimon, and I have the Crest of Kindness._

_There is one last thing that I would like you to do for me, Davis. I know that I don't deserve your help, but I do not ask for myself. I ask for someone very close to me._

_Please take care of Wormmon for me. He had no part in my cruel designs – in fact he spent most of the time trying to convince me to stop them. He shouldn't suffer for my mistakes. Tell him that I'm sorry for all the pain that I've caused him, and regret the fact that I shut him out. Tell him that he was the greatest partner ever, despite what I said – and that I'll miss him._

_I'm so sorry, Davis. And I apologise to the rest of you too. You showed me nothing but friendship and trust…yet I continued on my path of destruction. I can only hope that you'll remember me not as the cruel Digimon Emperor, but as Ken Ichijoji._

_Goodbye, Davis. You won't be seeing me again – in either world._

_Ken._

Letting out a choked sob, Davis handed the letter over for the others to read, and sank to his knees. Ken hadn't meant for his life to turn out this way – to find sanctuary in the Digital World, enslaving digimon. Deep down, he was a kind and gentle person. But his experiences of life had driven him to hide behind a mask of arrogance and cruelty.

As Ken had said himself, on that sleepover all those nights ago…he hadn't been able to remember how to be Ken. He'd got lost whilst trying to be someone he wasn't.

_>Why did it have to turn out this way? Why!>

* * *

_

That night, Davis was even more down and depressed than before. He couldn't get that letter out of his mind, and had to keep rereading it. What exactly had Ken meant when he'd said that Davis wouldn't be seeing him again – in either world?

"Hey, brat! You friend's on the news!" Jun called from the sitting room. Confused, Davis went to see what she meant. And froze as the news bulletin was read.

_Tonight, people are praying for the safety of Ken Ichijoji, famous boy genius of just 12 years old. Ken disappeared from his home sometime today, leaving only this note behind for his parents. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry'. _

_Although teachers and acquaintances alike are puzzling over what could have caused the normally sensible boy to run away, his parents just want him home, safe and sound._

The screen shifted to a shot of Ken's parents. Mrs. Ichijoji was sobbing into her husband's shirt, whilst Mr. Ichijoji spoke to the cameras.

"_Come home, Ken. Please. Your mother and I are worried about you, and we just want you back. No one will be angry – just come home."_

The view switched back to the studio, the camera focusing in on the newsreader again.

_No one is sure of the reason behind the genius' disappearance, but one thing is certain – it's a dark and dangerous world out there. One that isn't safe for young teenagers like Ken. _

_We'll keep you posted with updates to this story. Next on the news tonight; how one man's sacrifice saved hundreds of lives in a warehouse fire…_

Davis stared at the screen, unable to take it in. _Ken's gone. He ran away. That's what he meant in his letter. Ken's gone! _With a final cry of defeated misery, Davis flopped back onto the couch, staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

_>Ken's gone…>

* * *

**Well there you have it folks! If you want to read chapter 11 (the final one!) and the epilogue, please read and review!**_


	11. Of Pain And Hitchhikers

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven; Of Pain And Hitchhikers**

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Davis. You've been moping for two days straight now – you need something to take your mind off your missing friend." Mrs. Motomiya said firmly.

"Ok, ok! Yeesh, keep your hair on! I'll go on that stupid trip to Kyoto for the weekend!" Davis growled, stomping off to his room to start packing. His mother beamed after him.

"Wonderful, dear. I'll just phone Darryl and let him know that you'll be going with him after all."

Davis threw a toothbrush into his rucksack, grumbling under his breath. Maybe he had been upset over Ken running away, but that didn't give his mother the right to pack him off on a road trip to Kyoto.

_>Ah well. At least I'm going with Darryl. He's pretty cool.>_ Davis acknowledged. Darryl was his second cousin, and the only one in the family who'd actually been somewhere that wasn't in Japan. Darryl loved travelling, and had been all over the world – and when he couldn't get away, he spent his weekends taking road trips round Japan.

There was also the added bonus that Darryl loved football just as much as he did – in fact, Darryl was practically an older version of Davis.

_>Maybe this is what I need to get my mind off Ken for a while…>

* * *

_

"You ready, sport?" Darryl asked, opening the passenger door of his Landrover. Davis nodded, dumping his luggage in the boot and hopping in. Darryl always treated him like an adult – whilst other family member shoved him in the back seats, Darryl always allowed him to ride up front with him.

"Then I guess we're all set. I just need to go grab some gas at the petrol station outside town though, ok?" Darryl grinned. Davis frowned.

"Why do you have to go all the way out there?" He asked in confusion.

"Fuel's cheaper at that station. Plus there's a pretty girl I'm trying to score a date with for next weekend." Darryl laughed. Rolling his eyes, Davis fastened his seatbelt, and waved goodbye to Jun and his parents.

This was going to turn out alright – he could feel it.

* * *

"Ok, I've scored with Candice, now all that's left is the fuel. Tell you what – I'll fill her up, whilst you go and grab us some snacks for the road. What do you say? I'll pay." Darryl offered. 

Smiling gratefully, Davis took the money that was offered, and hopped out of the vehicle, heading over to the station shop. After a short argument with an old lady about cutting in front (although Davis was _sure_ she hadn't been there before), Davis had bought several packets of crisps and half the store's supply of chocolate bars.

Practically skipping back to the vehicle, Davis handed the bag to Darryl, who was waiting to stash it in the glove compartment.

"Just to warn you, we're gonna have a guest until we reach Kyoto." Darryl said, closing up the compartment. Davis raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"He's in the back there." Darryl pointed at the back seat, and Davis peeked in through the window. Sure enough, there was a figure sitting in the back seat, slumped against the opposite window.

"He came over and asked if I'd mind giving him a lift. I asked where he was going, and he told me that he didn't care, as long as it was out of this town. So I said I'd take him to Kyoto." Darryl explained.

"Did you get a name?" Davis asked.

"No, most runaways don't give out their names easily, in case they're found." Darryl answered. Davis' mouth went dry.

"He's…he's a runaway?" He croaked.

Darryl nodded.

"I think so. But from the dirt on his clothes, I'd say he's only been on the streets a couple of days – a newbie. He must just wanna get out of this city and make a fresh…oh man. I'm sorry, Davis. I forgot all about your friend." Darryl gasped.

Davis shrugged, and got control of himself.

"It doesn't matter. You can't exactly chuck him out now anyway. You promised him."

Opening the door and jumping in, Davis waited for Darryl to get in and start the engine. Twisting slightly in his seat, he looked over his shoulder to take a closer look at their passenger.

The hitchhiker was still leaning against the window, chest rising and falling softly. Squinting, Davis realised that he was asleep. >_Must have been tired.> _Davis thought. Mind you, if he'd been the one sleeping on the streets, he'd have been tired too.

The runaway shifted in his sleep, murmuring something unintelligible under his breath. Davis half expected him to wake up, but after there was no further movement, continued his inspection. The boy was dressed in quite dark clothing – plain grey trousers and a black hooded jacket that was clearly far too big for him. Billowing out around him, it hid his build from prying eyes.

_>Maybe that was intentional.>_ Davis mused to himself. After all, the stranger had left the hood up, allowing it to completely conceal his face and hair from view. Davis guessed that it was a precaution against being seen and having his location reported to his family and friends.

"Ready to go, sport?" Darryl asked, sliding into his seat and fastening his seatbelt. Turning round to face the front again, Davis nodded, focusing in on the road ahead of them.

"You bet."

* * *

They were half way to Kyoto when the hitchhiker finally woke up. He had started to call out in his sleep, and the other two boys had been debating on whether to wake him up or not, when the passenger flew upright with a panicked gasp. 

"Whoa, easy back there. You're safe, okay? I'm taking you to Kyoto like you asked me to." Darryl soothed, glancing in the mirror to see whether the kid was alright.

The runaway nodded silently, settling back into his seat and turning his head slightly so that he could look out the window. Davis, who'd twisted to check up on him, caught a glimpse of longish purple hair as it escaped the confines of the hood. Almost absentmindedly, a delicate hand came up and pushed it back inside.

"So what are you gonna do when you get to Kyoto?" Davis asked, trying to strike up a conversation. The other boy's head whipped round at the sound of his voice, and Davis had the feeling that he was being stared at.

"Well? Are you going to answer, or am I talking to myself here?" He prompted. The other boy seemed to relax again, and mumbled something about finding work somewhere. From the look Darryl shot him, Davis had a bad feeling about the kind of job the other boy would be forced to take – after all, most employers didn't hire the homeless.

Giving up, Davis faced the front again, and began browsing through the radio stations. If their 'guest' didn't feel like talking, than he wasn't going to push it.

Finally settling on a channel, Davis settled back and listened as the presenter began to read the news. Although he wasn't exactly the brightest penny in the moneybox, that didn't mean that he didn't listen to the news every once in a while.

_The search continues for Ken Ichijoji, runaway boy genius of Tamachi. Nearly three days have passed since his disappearance, and with no clues to his current whereabouts, the chances of finding him are rapidly slimming. Now over for a live interview with the Ichijoji family, conducted earlier today…_

"Would you mind turning that off, please?" The hitchhiker asked in a strained voice. Davis shrugged, carrying out the request.

"Don't you like listening to the news?" He queried.

"Not to reports like those. If Ken wanted to be found, he'd have gone home by now. I don't think that it's right for him to be hounded this way." Came the sure reply. Davis frowned.

"Just because you've decided to give up on everyone that cares for you, doesn't mean that Ken will. Maybe he just needs to realise that people miss him." He shot back, gripping the sides of his seat tightly.

"He doesn't have anyone who misses him, other than his parents." Davis found himself growling at the next comment, and he twisted abruptly to face the person who was slandering his friend.

"I miss him! He was my friend – my _best_ friend! And he still is!" He snarled. The other boy fell silent.

"Your…your best friend? You still think of him as your best friend?" He whispered. Davis nodded fiercely, glaring at Darryl's passenger.

"Of course I do. You don't give up on your friends, no matter how hard the journey." The hitchhiker became quiet again, making no further comment. Satisfied that he'd put the boy his place, Davis shot a smug glance at Darryl, choosing to ignore the disapproving one he got in return.

* * *

A few hours later, they stopped at a service station on the outskirts of Kyoto. Davis had wanted to just end their trip and get to their hotel, but Darryl pointed out how low the fuel gage was, saying that if they didn't refuel before then, they wouldn't be going anywhere. 

As they pulled up outside the petrol station area, their passenger spoke up for the first time since the disagreement with Davis.

"Thanks for the ride. I won't impose on you any further – I can walk from here."

Darryl frowned.

"But it's still a couple of miles walk!" He argued. The other figure shrugged.

"I'm reasonably fit. I'll be fine. Thanks again for your kindness."

Feeling guilty, Davis held an arm out, stopping the boy from leaving.

"You know, you don't have to leave because of that argument we had. We'd be more than happy to take you the rest of the way, right Darryl?"

"Yup."

The runaway simply shook his head, lifting his small bag onto his shoulder.

"You've done enough. But thanks for the offer." Davis sighed.

"Well if you're sure…you take care of yourself, alright? Don't let anyone push you around."

"Thanks…but it doesn't really matter what happens to me. As long as I'm here, I can't hurt the ones I care about." The boy replied. As he turned to go, Davis suddenly grabbed his arm, wanting to know what the hell the other kid was on about.

"Wait! What do you mean by that? Don't tell me that's why you ran away? Because you were afraid of hurting someone?" Davis exclaimed. The runaway yanked his arm out of Davis' grasp, growling.

"Leave me alone! I know what I'm do…whoa!"

Losing his balance, the boy fell with a cry, landing on the floor in a heap. His hood slipped down, revealing his face at last.

"_Ken_!" Davis gasped in astonishment. Ken leapt to his feet and took off running, not giving Davis the chance to grab him again.

"Ken, _wait_!" Davis called, giving chase. The genius ignored him, vanishing rapidly into the crowd of people waiting to pay for petrol.

"_Ken_!"

Determined not to give up, Davis carried on, pushing his way through the throng. Finally reaching the other side, he looked around desperately, trying to see where Ken had gone.

"Ken, please!"

Getting no reply, Davis sunk onto a nearby bench, not able to believe it. >_I found him…I was riding in the same vehicle as him, for God's sake! I found him…and I let him slip through my fingers again…>_ Heaving a huge sigh, Davis got to his feet, running a hand through his hair.

_>Maybe it's not too late to contact someone and let them know that Ken's somewhere around Kyoto.>_ With this plan in mind, Davis began to head outside to where he'd seen a phone box, meaning to ring Ken's parents.

As he passed the alley that backed onto the takeaway restaurant, Davis slowly became aware of quiet sobbing. Pausing, he silently made his way to the alley entrance, peeking round the corner.

Further down, hidden partially by the shadows, was Ken. Sitting down with his back against the wall, Ken had one hand over his mouth to muffle the sound of his sobs. Davis felt his heart tear as he watched the pearls of liquid sliding down the other boy's face.

"Ken?" He whispered softly, emerging into view and walking slowly towards the distraught boy. The genius' head whipped up, and he stared at Davis like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car.

"D…Davis? I…I…leave me alone! Go on to Kyoto!"

Shaking his head, Davis crouched down next to his friend, and put an arm round Ken's shoulders.

"You really think I'm going to let my best friend just disappear out of my life forever like that? I was _worried_, Ken…remember what I said back in the Landrover?"

Ken smiled bitterly.

"Yeah. Just my luck to hitch a lift with one of the people I was trying to leave behind, huh?"

"Yeah, it _was_ lucky. Because otherwise, you'd have just been gone, and I'd have never found you. Come home, Ken. Your parents miss you. I miss you. Kari and the others miss you." Davis pleaded.

Ken shook his head determinedly, staring at his feet.

"No! I can't go back! I've done so many terrible things, Davis! You saw what I'm capable of! I was going to _kill_ you and the rest of your group!" He cried. Davis looked him straight in the eye.

"But you didn't. Ken, no matter what you've convinced yourself, it's dead wrong. You're a good person, I know it. You just got a little lost along the way." Ken gazed at him, unable to comprehend what Davis was saying.

"How can you say that?" He whispered. Davis leaned closer.

"Because it's the truth. You turned yourself away from darkness because you realised the consequences of your actions. That makes you good. I _forgive_ you, Ken."

With a loud sob, Ken started to cry again, leaning into Davis. The burgundy haired boy pulled him close, and murmured soothing words, waiting for his friend to cry himself out. When Ken fell silent again, he asked his question again, desperately hoping for a different answer this time.

"Come back with us, Ken?" He pleaded. The other boy stiffened in his arms, and Davis feared the worst. Then, Ken said in a small voice.

"Take me home, Davis. I can't do this anymore."

* * *

_Well, he didn't commit suicide, guys...but I hope that this was good enough anyway! I'd already explored suicidal Ken in my other fic, Cries Of The Helpless, so I wanted to try something new._

_In answer to Adam, I made no mention of the Dark Seed because no one knew about it at this point in the series. And since its power over Ken was broken when he realised how much Wormmon had cared for him, I figured that if he had real friends, that would have broken the power of the Dark Spore too._

_Only the epilogue left! Go read, people!_


	12. Epilogue

**Introduction**

When Odaiba gets a new transfer student, the Digidestineds' lives are turned upside down. Ken is spending a term at their school…and he's far from happy about it.

Pushing everyone, including Davis, away from him, Ken treats everyone as insects, and does his best to aggravate people. But when a new friendship is forged after an unforgettable event, a young emperor finds himself choosing between his destiny…and his humanity.

**_Only when someone reaches out, will the damned be saved…_**

* * *

**Epilogue**

Three weeks had passed since Ken had returned home with Davis. Three weeks since Davis had seen the purple haired genius.

Davis rung the doorbell, and rocked back on his heels, nervously inspecting his hands. He wanted to check up on his friend, and see how he was. Although Ken hadn't said anything more on the way back to Tamachi, Davis had been able to read him as clearly as ever.

Ken was terrified. Not only of his parent's reactions but also of himself. He felt extremely guilty over his actions as the Digimon Emperor, and just wanted to run away from all the pain and sorrow that he'd caused, from all the aching grief he held inside of himself. No matter what Davis said, he was convinced that even if Davis himself didn't hate him, the others certainly would.

Since his return to Tamachi, Ken hadn't made any further contact with the Digidestined, and had turned down all interviews with inquisitive reporters. So Davis had decided to initiate things himself.

The door swung open, and Davis was faced with a very weary looking Mrs. Ichijoji.

"Hello…? Oh, it's Davis, isn't it?" She asked. Davis nodded.

"Yeah. Could I speak to Ken please? It's been three weeks since he came back, and I wanted to see how he was…"

Mrs. Ichijoji's face softened.

"Of course you can, honey. If he'll let you in, that is."

"Huh?"

"He won't come out of his bedroom, and he won't let anyone in, either. I have to leave his meals by the door."

Davis frowned in determination.

"Don't worry, Mrs. I! I'll get him out of there!" He announced certainly, striding towards Ken's bedroom.

Knocking on the door and not waiting for an answer, Davis barged into Ken's room, letting the door swing shut behind him. Ken, who'd been sitting at his computer, jumped, staring up at Davis uncertainly.

"Davis?" He murmured in bemusement.

"Yes, Davis. A Davis who wants to know why you haven't let him know how you're feeling!" Davis exclaimed, leaning against the wall. Ken shrugged apologetically.

"Sorry. I've…I've been trying to figure that out for myself." He sighed. Davis smiled gently at him.

"That's alright, I understand. You fell apart at the seams, and need to put yourself back together again. It happens to us all. By the way, I've got some messages for you."

Ken raised an eyebrow, turning back to face the computer screen.

"You do?" He asked distantly. Davis grinned.

"Yup. TK and Kari want you to go to the next town talent contest and watch them perform their duet, Cody wants you to support him during his next kendo tournament, and Yolei wants to know if it's okay to start sending fan mail again."

That got Ken's attention. Mouth hanging open, he stared at Davis in disbelief.

"You're…you're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Told you that they didn't hate you. Oh, I forgot. There's another message for you as well."

"What?" If possible, Davis's smile grew even bigger.

"A certain green worm digimon wants to know when you're going to collect him and bring him home." Ken's purple eyes filled with tears of happiness, and he gazed through watery eyes at Davis.

"Wormmon still wants to be with me?" He gasped in wonderment. Davis nodded, pressing two things into Ken's hand.

"Yup. Ring me to arrange a pick-up time, alright? See you Ken." Still grinning, Davis bounced out of the room, leaving Ken on his own again.

For a moment, Ken sat perfectly still, staring after his friend. Then, he slowly opened his hand to see what Davis had given him, his eyes widening.

His D-3 and crest.

Ken glanced up at the door again, before looking back down at the items in his hand. A small smile tugged at his lips, and he carefully stowed the precious objects in his drawer, away from prying eyes.

Maybe he wasn't quite ready to face the world again quite yet.

But he would be.

* * *

_Well...that's all folks! Secrets Unknown is officially over. And even if no one likes the epilogue, I somehow found myself in love with the last few paragraphs!_

_But anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed reading it, and I would just like to say...Read and Review!_

_Which reminds me...thankyou so much to everyone who has done so so far, and to everyone's who's supported my writing here! I love you all!_


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